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Publius Cornelius Tacitus, The Works of Tacitus. In Four Volumes. To which are prefixed, Political Discourses upon that Author by Thomas Gordon. The Second Edition, corrected. (London: T. Woodward and J. Peele, 1737). Vol. 1.
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The historical works of Tacitus are a history of the period from A.D. 14 to 96 in thirty volumes. Although many of the works were lost (only books 1-5 of the Histories and 1-6 and 11-16 of the Annals survive), enough remains to provide a good sense of Tacitus’s political and moral philosophy. He recognized the necessity for strong rulers but argued that more should be done to manage the succession of power and allow for the ascension of talent. Tacitus asserted that it was the dynastic ambitions of Rome’s many emperors that caused the decline of moral and political life and precluded the possibility of recruiting leaders of real ability. Moreover, the dynastic temptation caused political instability because military force was now required for political change. His works point to the necessity of systematic institutional restraints on power for the preservation of liberty. Gordon’s translation and his lengthy Discourses on Tacitus bring Tacitus’ ideas up to date and apply them to the British state of the early 18th century.

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Printed for T.
Woodward, and J. Peele; And Sold by J.
Osborn, at the Golden Ball, in Pater - noster
Row.

m.dcc.xxxvii.

Edition: current; Page: [ii]Edition: current; Page: [[iii]]

TO The Right Honourable Sir Robert
Walpole,

First Commissioner of the Treasury, Chancellor and
Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer, one of his Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy
Council, and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

SIR,

AS You were the first who promoted the following Work in a
public manner, I take liberty to present it to the Public under your name, and
to do an act of acknowledgment
Edition: current; Page: [iv]for one of generosity. Be pleased to be the Patron of
a Book which under your Patronage was composed. It is natural and common for
men who profess Letters, to seek the countenance and protection of Men of
Power; and from such of them as to greatness of fortune were happy enough to
join greatness of mind, they have not sought in vain.

Power without Politeness and Complacency, is at best
distasteful, often hated; amiable when it knows how to condescend. It is thus
that men in high stations avoid envy from such as stand below them. He who
cannot rise to their height, finds a sort of retaliation and amends in their
coming down to him. No Man is pleased with a behaviour which represents him as
contemptible. To make us think well of ourselves, by another’s shewing us that
we are well thought of by him, is a generous
Edition: current; Page: [v]and artful civility: a lesson which stately and
rebuking men want to learn. A mean man of great quality and figure (for such
incongruities we often meet) teaches others to scorn him, by his shewing that
he scorns them. Affability therefore, accompanied with good sense, which will
always guard it from exceeding, is the art of keeping great Splendor from
growing offensive to the rest of the world.

It must be owned, that no Affability, even the most
flowing; no Genius, even the most elevated, can escape particular distastes;
and from the dislike of Persons to that of Actions the transition is easy and
too common. Men do not easily discern good qualities and intentions in one, to
whom they do not wish well. All men, even those of the most unexceptionable
Characters, are apt to form their judgment over-hastily,
Edition: current; Page: [vi]when their passions are warmed: and from this cause it
has often proceeded, that the inevitable misfortunes of times and accidents
have been charged upon such, whose interest and study it was to prevent them.
This is one of the evils and uneasinesses inseparably attending every
Administration. When a State is under heavy burdens and difficulties, the means
to relieve and support it will be, almost always, proportionably heavy: and as
whatever proves heavy, however necessary, is easily called Oppression; so the
hand, which administers a remedy, may, merely because it is felt, be easily
styled oppressive.

Besides the reason which I have already given for this
Address, I have another; one taken from the Character of my Author. As he was a
Man of Affairs, a great Minister, I chuse to present him to another; to one who
having
Edition: current; Page: [vii]been long engaged in public Life, having had long
experience of men, seen far into their bent and foibles, and been conversant
with the mysteries and primary operations of Government; can thence readily
judge whether Tacitus has refined too much in his Politics,
or been over-severe in his Censures upon mankind: or whether this charge has
not been chiefly raised by men of speculation, who, however furnished with
Learning, were yet unacquainted with the transactions of States, and ignorant
of human nature; or perhaps willing to do honour to it, or to themselves, at
the expence of Truth. Men are to be known, not by Theories taken up in closets,
but by Commerce with men; and best of all in those great scenes of public Life,
where You, Sir, have sustained, for so many years, a high
and important part, and gained eminent experience
Edition: current; Page: [viii]as well as the just opinion of great
sufficiency.

I could here, agreeably to the usual style and purpose of Dedications, say a
great many advantageous things, without risquing the usual censure incurred by
Dedicators. But such things I would much rather say of you, than to you. In
this place, I shall only profess to be, what I intirely am, with perfect truth,
and high regard,

IX. How much these
Emperors hated, and how fast they destroyed all great and worthy Men. Their
dread of every Man for any Reason.p. 164

X. Reflections upon the
Spirit of a Tyrant. With what Wantonness the Roman Emperors shed the
Edition: current; Page: [xv]blood of the Roman People. The blindness of such as
assisted the Usurpation ofCæsarandAugustus.p. 167

XII. How the
unrelenting Cruelty of the Emperors hastened the Dissolution of the Empire. The
bad Reigns ofConstantineandConstantius.The good Reign ofJulian.The indiscreet behaviour of the
Christians. Continued Tyranny: and end of the Empire.p. 172

XIII. The Excellency of
a limited Monarchy, especially of our own.p. 175

DISCOURSE VIII. Of the general
Debasement of Spirit and Adulation which accompany Power unlimited.

Sect. I. The motives of Flattery considered. Its vileness, and whence it
begins.p. 178

II. Men of elevated
Minds irreconcileable to Arbitrary Power, and thence suspected by it. The Court
paid to it always insincere, sometimes expedient, but seldom observes any
bounds.p. 183

III. The excessive
Power of Imperial freed Slaves; with the scandalous Submission and Honours paid
them by the Romans.p. 185

DISCOURSES UPON TACITUS.

DISCOURSE I.: Upon the former English Translations of
Tacitus.

Sect. I.: Of the Translation byGreenwayand Sir H. Savill.

I AM going to offer to the publick the Translation of a Work,
which for wisdom and force, is in higher fame and consideration, than almost
any other that has yet appeared amongst men; a Work often translated into many
Languages, seldom well into any, into ours worst of all. The first was done in
Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the Annals by one Greenway, and four Books of the History by Sir Henry Savill, a man exceeding learned, and esteemed for his
critical notes upon Tacitus, as well as for those upon St.
Chrysostom, of whose works he has published an elaborate
edition. But though he was an able Grammarian, and understood the Antiquities
in Tacitus, and his words, his Translation is a
Edition: current; Page: [2]mean performance; his stile is stiff, spiritless, and
obscure; he drops many of his Author’s ideas, preserves none of his turns, and
starves his meaning even where he best conveys it. ’Tis a mere Translation,
that rather of one word into another, than that of a dead tongue into a living,
or of sense into sense. The Roman idiom is forced and wire-drawn into the
English, a task altogether impossible; and not adopted and naturalized, a thing
possible enough; and out of a Book prosuse in eloquence, fine spirit and
images, he has drawn a work harsh, halting and barren. Ogilby is not more unlike Virgil. Greenway
is still worse than Savill; he had none of his learning, he
had all his faults and more: The former has at least performed like a
school-master, the latter like a school-boy.

Sect. II.: Of the English Translation by several
hands.

ABOUT a hundred years after them another English Translation was
undertaken by several hands, Mr. Dryden and others.
Dryden has translated the first Book; but done it almost
literally from Mr. Amelot de la Houssaye, with so much
haste and little exactness, that besides his many mistakes, he has introduced
several Gallicisms: he follows the French author servilely, and writes French
English, rather than trust him out of his eye. It is true, la
Houssaye is an honest Translator, and one of the foremost: He has gone as
far as the thirteenth Annal inclusive; but his phrases are often weak and
trifling, and he is subject to all that faintness and circumlocution for which
the French tongue is noted. Dryden copies his manner as
well as his meaning. It was pure hurry and want of application; for he was a
fine writer, had a copious imagination, a good ear, and
Edition: current; Page: [3]a flowing stile. Strike away all that is bad in his
works, enough will remain to shew him a great Poet, a man of parts and a master
of language. Even his many enemies and opposers shew the considerableness of
the man; but his excellencies in many things excuse not his faults in others;
his Translation of Tacitus is poor and languid, no where
derived from the original, generally full of mistakes; at best it is only the
French Translator ill translated, or ill imitated.

Sect. III.: Of the last Translation of the first
Annal.

TACITUS talking of the latter end of Augustus his reign, says, domi res tranquillæ.
Eadem magistratuum vocabula. These are two sentences independent of each
other; yet Mr. Dryden translates, “all things at Rome being
in a settled peace, the Magistrates still retained their former names;” as if
the one was all the cause of the other. This blunder is owing to la Houssaye ill understood: tout étoit
tranquille à Rome, les Magistrats avoient les mêmes noms: if instead of
avoient, he had said ayant, the
translation would have come pretty near the French. But the English Translator
does not seem to understand French, though he has no other guide, else how
could he so miserably mistake, pars multo maxima imminentis
dominos variis rumoribus disserebant; as to render it, “the greater part
employed their time in various discourses of future matters?” From this it is
plain he never looked into the original, or understood it not. He was misled by
the French which he appears here to have as little understood; la plus part se plaisoient à faire divers jugemens de ceux qui
aloient devenir leurs Maitres.

Edition: current; Page: [4]

But more wretched still is what follows: Tacitus represents the Romans discoursing, during the decline
of Augustus, concerning the next successors in view,
Agrippa Posthumus and Tiberius, and
makes them say of Livia the Empress; accedere matrem muliebri impotentia: serviendum feminæ,
&c. “His mother of a violent and imperious nature, according to the
sex themselves, subjected to the slavery of a woman.” This is jargon and
nonsense, tho’ the author seems to have followed the French; qui (Tibere) a une mere imperieuse & violente, selon la coutume
du sexe, à laquelle il faudra obéir en esclaves. Well may he be said to
follow the French Translator blindly; and less is the wonder that he adopts his
Gallicisms where he happens to understand him.

When Drusus, the son of Tiberius,
entred the camp of the seditious Legions in Pannonia, and the mutinous soldiery
were gathered round him; Tacitus makes a charming and
strong description of their behaviour, with the several vicissitudes of their
passions, which shifted strangely according as they dreaded his person and
authority, or recalled their grievances, and surveyed their own numbers and
strength; and he concludes the whole, according to his custom, with a fine
reflection: Illi, quotiens oculos ad multitudinem retulerant,
vocibus truculentis strepere; rursum, viso Cæsare, trepidare. Murmur incertum,
atrox clamor, & repente quies; diversis animorum motibus, pavebant,
terrebantque. This is all pretty well translated by La
Houssaye. I shall only quote the last clause or reflection:
par des mouvemens tout differens, ils prenoient l’epouvante,
& la donnoient; and this I quote only to shew how impotently the
English Translator hangs by the French phrase and takes it literally: “by their
different motions, says he, they gave and took terror in their turns.”

Edition: current; Page: [5]

Is not this pithy and sounding? There are numbers of
such instances both as to language and strength; insomuch that I have been
sometimes tempted to think it not to be Dryden’s: but I
have many assurances of its being his. I take it for granted it was a jobb for
the Booksellers, carelessly performed by one, who wanted no capacity, but only
pains or encouragement to have done it much better, perhaps very well.

Sect. IV.: Of the last Translation of the second
Annal.

THE next Annal is translated by another hand, less negligently,
but with small taste and vigour; no resemblance of the original, where in every
sentence almost there occur surprizing images and turns, which no where appear
in the Translation. ’Tis not the fire of Tacitus, but his
embers quenched with English words cold and Gothick. Let any one read
particularly the two speeches of Arminius and
Maroboduus to their different armies just before they
engaged, cap. 45. and 46. and he will find that between Tacitus and his Translator, there is just as much difference as
between a living soul and a cold carcase. Yet the lifeless Translation of this
Annal compared with that of the third by a different hand, is an able
performance.

Sect. V.: Of the last Translation of the third
Annal.

THIS translation is in truth wretched beyond belief; ’tis below
drollery, and a sort of a middle between bad sense and good nonsense.
Tacitus says of the arrival of the fleet, which brought
Agrippina from Asia with her husband’s
Edition: current; Page: [6]funeral urn, and her children now fatherless;
classis paulatim successit, non alacri, ut adsolet, remigio,
sed cunctis ad tristitiam compositis, An. 3. c. 1.
“The fleet (says the Translator) came in, not rowing briskly, as they used to
do, but slowly, and with sorrow in their countenances;” a translation worthy of
one who could make Tacitus say elsewhere, “Drusus left the City to enquire his fortune:” Would not one
think that he went to some remote country to consult a cunning man? Or meant
the Translator to joke upon the religion and solemnities of the Romans? The
words of Tacitus which he thus perverts, or rather quite
drops, are, Drusus urbe egressus repetendis auspiciis:
“Drusus went without the gates, to repeat the formality of
the auspices.”

Tacitus at the end of his discourse upon laws, says,
Cæsar Augustus, potenliæ securus, quæ Triumviratu jusserat,
abolevit, deditque jura, quis pace & Principe uleremur: acriera ex eo vincla, inditi custodes,
& lege Papia Poppæa præmiis inducti, ut si &c. sed altius penetrabant,
(custodes, scil.) Urbemque & Italiam, & quod
usquam civium, corripuerant, multorumque excisi status; & terror omnibus
intentabatur, nisi Tiberius statuendo remedio, &c. Now observe the
sorce, and elegance, and truth, with which this is rendered by the Translator;
“Augustus Cesar being settled in his authority, he
abolished those things he commanded in the Triumvirate, and gave new laws to be
observed in time of peace, and under a Monarch. And that they might be the
better kept, he appointed some to look after them:” [as if the laws had been a
flock of sheep] “The law Papia Poppea provided,
&c. But the informers went farther, not only in the
City, but thro’ all Italy, where any citizens were, ruined many families and
frightened all. To remedy which Tiberius,”
Edition: current; Page: [7]&c. A little farther
Tacitus says, adversis animis acceptum,
quod filio Claudii socer Sejanus destinaretur: polluisse nobilitatem familiæ
videbantur, suspectumque jam nimiæ spei Sejanum ultro extulisse. “There
were (says the Translator) great discontents upon Claudius’s son’s being to marry Sejanus’s
daughter as a disparagement to him, [to what him? Sejanus
was the last named.] “But Sejanus, whose ambition was
suspected, was much exalted upon it.”

Tacitus discoursing of the revolt of Florus and Sacrovir, and representing the
sentiments of the people upon that and other alarms, says, increpabant Tiberium, quod in tanto rerum motu, libellis
accusatorum insumeret operam. An Julium Sacrovirum majestatis crimine reum in
Senatu fore? Extitisse tandem viros, qui cruentas epistolas armis cohiberent:
miseram pacem vel bello bene mutari. Tanto impensius in securitatem compositus,
neque loco, neque vultu mutato, sed ut solitum per illos dies egit: altitudine
animi, an compererat modica esse & vulgatis leviora. Hear how this is
translated. Blaming “Tiberius for employing himself in
reading informers accusations where there was so great commotions. What, said
they, have the Senate found Julius Sacrovir guilty of
treason? Some have had the courage to suppress by arms the bloody libels of a
Tyrant; war is a good change for a miserable peace. But he neither changed
place nor countenance; affecting to shew he was not afraid, either through
courage, or that he knew things to be less than they were reported.” Was ever
good sense so vilely burlesqued? were one to study to ridicule Tacitus, what more miserable stuff, void of all sense and
sound, could one make him utter? It puts me in mind of a notable compliment in
an address from a learned Society to the late King; “We perceive that you are
one that is not
Edition: current; Page: [8]afraid that posterity should make mention of you;” or
words of the like force and beauty. Neither have I picked out these passages
invidiously, as the worst: I have read the whole Annal, and I know no part of
it better done.

Sect. VI.: Of the last Translation of the
fourth, fifth, and sixth Annal.

THE fourth, fifth, and sixth Annals are done by another hand,
and poorly done. In him you find little of the true meaning of Tacitus; of his spirit and manner nothing at all; but frequent
deviations from his sense, and even from all sense. Tacitus
in the Character of Sejanus, says; intus
summa apiscendi libido, ejusque causa modo largitio & luxus, sæpius
industria ac vigilantia, haud minus noxiæ, quotiens parando regno
finguntur. Who but the Translator would have discovered, that by these
words Tacitus meant to declare, that “virtues are as
dangerous as vices, when they meet with a turbulent spirit aspiring to Empire?”
Yet the Translation of this passage is as just as that of many others.
Sometimes he drops whole phrases and passages, such as he knows not what to
make of, and oftner loses out of sight the meaning of others however plain.

Tacitus says, ut series futuri in
Agrippinam exitii inciperet, Claudia Pulchra sobrina ejus postulatur, accusante
Domitio Afro. Is recens prætura, modicus dignationis, & quoquo facinore
properus clarescere, crimen impudicitiæ, adulterum Furnium, veneficia in
Principem, & devotiones objectabat. “To begin the ruin of
Agrippina, [how insipid and defective!] Domitius Afer lately Pretor [not a word of modicus dignationis] and ready to engage in any thing to gain
himself credit [observe the force!] accuses Claudia Pulchra
of adultery
Edition: current; Page: [9]with Furnius [the words
sobrina ejus, which explain the rest, and the word
impudicitiæ, one of the articles of the charge, are
omitted] “and to have a design on the life of that Prince with her charms and
person:” What Prince? Furnius was none; Tiberius has not been mentioned in several pages: it is
nonsense; and “a design on his life with her charms and person,” multiplies the
nonsense.

Tacitus says, that amongst other reasons assigned why
Tiberius retired from Rome, some alledged the authority
assumed by his mother; who having persuaded Augustus,
contrary to his inclinations, to postpone Germanicus and
adopt Tiberius, did afterwards upbraid Tiberius with so signal a service, and even challenged the
Empire as her own: idque Augusta exprobrabat, reposcebat.
“The Empress (says the Translator) seemed to reproach him with that favour, and
requested it for her son.” What gibberish! she had but one son, and he had it.
She, forsooth, reproached her son Tiberius for having given
him the Sovereignty, and from the same Tiberius claimed it
for the same Tiberius. Sejanus, once when a cave fell in
upon Tiberius and his company, covered the Emperor with his
own body: major ex eo, says Tacitus.
“This admirable and undoubted fidelity,” says the Translator; which
Tacitus never said nor meant. How miserably too does he
translate, ingentium bellorum cladem æquavit malum improvisum:
ejus initium simul & finis exstitit. “Happened a calamity
Edition: current; Page: [10]in which we sustained as great a loss as in the
greatest defeats, though it was all done in an instant.” I will venture to say,
that this is as well done as any other part of all the three Books.

Sect. VII.: Of the last Translation of the
eleventh Annal.

THE eleventh Annal is translated by another Gentleman; but not
with another spirit: it is like the rest, full of feebleness and mistakes and
low phrases. I shall here give some instances. The Pleaders, in a speech to the
Emperor Claudius, in defence of taking fees, and in answer
to Silius, who alledged against them the example of certain
great Orators of the former age who had never taken any; say, facile Asinium & Messalam, inter Antonium & Augustum
bellorum præmiis refertos, &c. c. 7. “Asinius and
Messala, who feathered their nests well in the Civil Wars
’twixt Anthony,” &c. This is the
Language of a chairman, but of a piece with the rest, such as, a King’s
aplaying the good fellow;btrumping upArminius’s title;cbeing equipped with money;dhis reputation began to exert itself far and near;esaw but one poor snake;fmore bloody than he ought to be; Senators
gsquabling in the house; A silver mine
hwhich bled but a little;iIt was not come to that yet;kAdvice hurts not the guiltless;lMen had
Edition: current; Page: [11]recourse to impudence when their ill actions came to
be discovered:mothers were in the same predicament with them in that
matter;nClaudius as he was easily angry, so he was easily
pleased;oMatrimony the last comfort of those who give themselves
to lewdness;pAssidavits of her lewdness;qThe vast treasures given to Silius for his
drudgery. Such cant, jargon, and ill-favoured nonsense, is called the
Translation of Tacitus.

Sect. VIII.: Of the last Translation of the
twelfth and thirteenth Annals.

THE two succeeding Annals are Englished by another hand, and
miserably Englished they are; rather worse than the former. ’Tis all wretched
tittle-tattle, unmeaning and ill-bred; nor could any number of words thrown
together at random, without thought or idea, be more shallow or vulgar, more
destitute of ornament or sound. To pass by his top Orators;
Knack of speaking; Staving off a war any ways. — He being rectine. — The
Emperor himself their worthy. Yea, Gentlemen and Senators do make no other
original to themselves but from thence; and the like gibberish which
occurs in every sentence: I shall here transcribe a passage where he seems to
aim at a meaning and to exceed himself: “
r
The power his mother had over him
Edition: current; Page: [12]“(Nero) dwindled away by degrees,
and Nero fell in love with Acte, a
freed-woman, and made Otho and Claudius
Senecio the confidents of his new Amour, one of which (to wit)
Otho, was of a consular family, but Senecio, a son of one of Cesar’s freed-men;
who at first without the mother’s knowledge, and since in spite of all she
could do, worked himself by degrees into the Prince’s affections, by luxury and
secret ways, that no body knew, which the best friends he had, indulged him in,
and were pleased to see him take up and content himself with that woman, a
thing which did no body an injury: for he had the misfortune to dislike his
wife Octavia (whether it be that we naturally slight what
we can have, and eagerly pursue what is forbidden) of an illustrious family,
and of an unspotted virtue, and ’twas feared he might fall into a vein of
debauching women of quality, if he was checked in that intrigue: but
Agrippina could not bear that a freed-woman should nose
her,” &c. That “a freed-woman should beard her,” says
the old Translation.

How clear, how strong, and how just! This is in the
thirteenth Book: take one or two samples more out of the twelfth. “
s
’Twas enacted that
Edition: current; Page: [13]if they (women) married (to slaves) without their
master’s consent, they should remain such” [who should, the women or the
slaves? the former were none, and could not remain what they were not; and to
say it of the latter, is nonsense.] “Barea Soranus, Consul
elect, moved that Pallas (whom Cesar
said was the first that brought it into the House) should have the Pretorial
honours, and fifteen millions of Sesterces, and, that Scipio
Cornelius might have the Thanks of the House, for that being descended
from the Kings of Arcadia, he forgot his birth and quality to serve the
publick, and was contented to be one of the Prince’s servants. Claudius assured them, that Pallas,
satisfied with the honour the Senate had done him, would live as retiredly as
he used to do. In short an act was made,” &c.

These two passages are as brightly translated as any in
the two Books, indeed beyond most passages.

I shall quote one more; it is in the thirteenth Annal, cap. 26. It was
importunately urged in the Senate that such freedmen as by abusing their Lords,
had shewn themselves unworthy of their liberty, should remain at the mercy of
the said Lords, and be subject to their former chains, nec
deerant qui censerent, says Tacitus,sed Consules relationem incipere non ausi ignaro principe (i. e.) “There were Senators too ready to have voted for such a
Edition: current; Page: [14]Decree; but the Consuls durst not propose it to the
vote without acquainting the Emperor.” Of all this plain matter the Translator
understood not one word. He says, “neither were there those wanting who would
censure them (nec deerant qui censerent) but the Consuls
durst not, without the Emperor’s knowledge, determine the matter.”

I cannot omit one polite phrase more out of this Book. Suilius Senecam increpans, says Tacitus.
“He laid it in Seneca’s dish,” says the Translator, c. 42.
“laying it in Seneca’s dish,” says the old Translation. He
indeed has stolen all he knew of Tacitus from the old
Translation, with all its blunders and stupidity, and improved both notably.
Behold another specimen. “At Rome he cheated men of their legacies, and wronged
the fatherless, who were deluded by him
t
.” The words of Tacitus are, Romæ
testamenta & orbos, velut indagine ejus capi, c. 42.

Sect. IX.: Of the last Translation of the
fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth Annals.

A Fresh hand has undertaken the three following Annals, and by
good fortune such a hand as has preserved an eminent uniformity with the
foregoing; only he is somewhat more gross. Tacitus says, it
was reported that when Agrippina studied to draw
Nero her son into an incestuous commerce with herself,
Senecam contra muliebres inlecebras subsidium a femina
petivisse: immissamque Acten libertam. “Seneca (says
the Translator)
Edition: current; Page: [15]soon brought in Acte, Nero’s
beloved woman, to expel one whore with another.”

When Agrippina had escaped the first attempt upon her
life, she dissembled, and seemed not to think it designed, nor to entertain any
future apprehensions: simulata securitate: “Under the
appearance of security,” (says the Translator.) But as Acerronia one of her maids had perished in that attempt, she
ordered her Will to be found, and all her effects to be sealed up. This she
did, says Tacitus, without any dissimulation;
id tantum non per simulationem, c. 6. “She takes all
necessary care (says the Translator) for the cure of her wound; the Testament
of Acerronia to be looked out, her coffers to be sealed up,
and all things necessary to be done without the least dissimulation:” How
nicely he understands the original, and how grammatical is his English! Here
however there seems to be some meaning aimed at; in what follows, even that is
wanting: “The image of the villains who were stained with the guilt of this
parricide, still haunted him.” The words of the original are observabanturque maris illius & litorum gravis adspectus,
c. 10.

In truth, to expose the insipidness and nonsense of
these Annals, were to transcribe them. In some places he is so gross, that his
words will not bear repeating; as particularly where one of Octavia’s maids tells Tigellinus,castiora esse muliebria Octaviæ quam os ejus. His
Translation of this is abominable, as well as ridiculous and false; and many
such like instances there are in him. I beg leave to quote one short passage
more out of this Annal. When that Lady was by the Tyrant divorced, and banished
into Campania under a guard; inde crebri questus, says
Tacitus,nec occulti per vulgum, cui minor
sapientia, & ex mediocritate fortunæ,
Edition: current; Page: [16]pauciora pericula sunt, c. 60. This is a fine
reflection; observe how execrably it is rendred: “Upon the clamour of the
people (who having nothing to lose, are commonly fearless, not out of any love
or relenting at his severity) this was remitted.”

The fifteenth Annal is done just like the fourteenth,
wretchedly. Here follows a specimen: Corbulo and
Cesennius Petus commanded in the East: sed
neque Corbulo æmuli patiens (says Tacitus);
& Pætus, cui satis ad gloriam erat, si proximus haberetur,
despiciebat gesta, nibil cædis aut prædæ, usurpatas nomine tenus urbium
expugnationes, dictitans: se tributa ac leges, & pro umbra Regis Romanum
jus victis impositurum, c. 6. The misfortune was, (says the Translator)
“the one was impatient of a rival, and the other could not endure a superior;
and Petus, who ought to have contented himself in being
second to Corbulo, ever took pleasure to diminish the glory
of his actions, upbraiding him that his victory in taking of towns was
imaginary, without conquest or plunder. That he would impose laws and demand
contributions, introduce the Roman power in the place of their Knights, and
render them a meer shadow.”

He often seems to be without the least glimmering of
Tacitus’s meaning, or any meaning, and puts down a parcel
of words at random. How clearly does he English, provisis
exemplis Caudinæ ac Numantinæ cladis; “resolving to follow the example of
Numantian, and the Caudine defeat, which practice they thought they might
justify, since the Parthians were at this time more powerful than the
Carthaginians or Samnites:” [were they in truth? what a discovery is here?]
neque eandem vim Samnitibus Italico populo, aut Pœnis Romani
imperii æmulis. He goes on: They were now beginning to
talk that the Antients were always commended
Edition: current; Page: [17]for their address in suiting all things to the times,
and securing a safe retreat when fortune should frown upon them. This is
another discovery which he has made from these words: validam
quoque & laudatam antiquitatem, quotiens fortuna contra daret, saluti
consuluisse, c. 13; that is, “these same venerable Antients, so very
stubborn and invincible, and so much adored, always consulted
self-preservation, as often as pressed by the assaults of a calamitous
fortune.”

When Petus had submitted to such shameful conditions
from the Parthians, he, amongst the rest, made a bridge over the river
Arsanias, and to hide his disgrace, pretended it was to shorten his own march;
when in truth, it was done in obedience to the commands of the Parthians, as a
monument of their superiority and conquest: namque iis usui
fuit; nostri per diversum iere, c. 15. “It being commodious to them,
(quoth the Translator) and not in any manner to molest us.” Were ever two
meanings more remote? He often adds words of his own to those of Tacitus, and often drops many more of the original, sometimes
whole sentences. Tacitus says, there prevailed then a
pestilent custom of making fraudulent Adoptions, by such Candidates for Offices
as had no children of their own; and as soon as the Election was over, they
instantly dismissed such as they had occasionally adopted. This abuse raised a
storm from such as were real parents; who, having applied to the Senate with
warm representations against such fallacious dealings in others, and such
injury done to themselves, add, sibi promissa legum diu
expectata, in ludibrium verti, quando quis sine solicitudine parens, sine luctu
orbus, longa patrum vota repente adæquaret, c. 19. All this is dropped by
the Translator, and the following jargon of his own inserted: “They took
children to quit them at
Edition: current; Page: [18]their fancy in contempt of those laws, while they had
a great many privileges, for care or sorrow, the other with ease enjoyed the
same.”

I am afraid I have tired my reader, as I have done my self, with such a dull
deduction of stupidities. I did not at first intend to say any thing of the
former Translations: I took it for granted that every man who had seen them,
must have condemned them, and found them as pitiful and bad as they really are.
But when upon publishing my Proposals, I found that some, who by their titles
and profession should be learned, others who by their high quality, ought to
have taste and elegance, had commended the former Translation, and uttered
their despair of seeing a better; I found it necessary to give some account of
that performance, which I think to be as low, defective, and wretched as any
thing in print; neither language, nor sense, nor decency, and as much unlike
Tacitus the Historian, as the meanest slave of
Tacitus the Consul, was unlike his master. It is much worse
than the old Translation, which is exceeding bad. It is in my own defence, as
well as in defence of Tacitus, that I have censured it, and
against my inclination. It looks indeed as if the Translators themselves had no
opinion of it, since they have not, as is usual, said one word about it by way
of Preface. This is what Mr. Dryden particularly never used
to omit doing; why did he omit it now in the Translation of a work of such name
and weight? As far as the sixth Annal there is a Translation too of
la Houssaye’s Notes, but done with great ignorance and
errors.

Edition: current; Page: [19]

DISCOURSE II.: Upon Tacitus and his
Writings.

Sect. I.: The Character ofTacitus.

AS to the Character of Tacitus and his
writings; he was the greatest Orator, Statesman, and Historian of his time; he
had long frequented the Bar; he had passed through all the high offices of
State: he was Edile, Pretor, Consul; and after long acquaintance with business
and men, he applied himself to collect observations, and to convey the fruits
of his knowledge to posterity, under the agreeable dress of a History. For this
task he was excellently qualified: No man had seen more, scarce any man had
ever thought so much, or conveyed his thoughts with greater force and vivacity;
a mighty genius, for which no conception or design was too vast; a powerful
Orator, who abounds in great sentiments and description: yet a man of
consummate integrity, who, though he frequently agitates the passions, never
misleads them: a masterly Historian, who draws events from their first sources;
and explains them with a redundancy of images, and a frugality of words: a
profound Politician who takes off every disguise, and penetrates every
artifice: an upright Patriot, zealous for publick Liberty and the welfare of
his Country, and a delared enemy to Tyrants and to the instruments of Tyranny;
a lover of human-kind; a man of virtue, who adores Liberty and Truth, and every
where adorns and recommends them; who abhors falshood and iniquity, despises
Edition: current; Page: [20]little arts, exposes bad ones; and shews, upon all
occasions, by the fate and fall of great wicked men, by the anxiety of their
souls, by the precariousness of their power, by the uncertainty or suddenness
of their fate, what a poor price greatness obtained is for goodness lost; and
how infinitely, persecuted virtue is preferable to smiling and triumphant
wickedness. Germanicus under all his hardships and
disfavour, is a happier man than Tiberius with all his
power and Empire; happier in peace of mind, happier in his fame and memory.
Tigellinus is a great favourite with Nero, but detested by all the rest of the world and fearful of
all men. Seneca is disliked by the Emperor, but universally
beloved and regretted. Tacitus is a fine Gentleman, who
suffers nothing pedantick or low, nothing that is trifling or indecent to fall
from his pen. He is also a man of wit; not such a one as is fond of conceits
and the quaintness of words, but a wit that is grave, majestick, and sublime;
one that blends the solemnity of truth with the fire of imagination, and
touches the heart rather than the fancy; yet for the better reception of truth,
pleases and awakens the fancy.

The telling of truth is dry and unaffecting; but to
enliven it with imagery, is describing it: and every one knows the advantages
that Description has over bare Narration. Hence the force of fine painting;
though, in my opinion, the Orator has the advantage of the Painter, as words
can multiply ideas better than the pencil, throw them thicker together, and
inflame them more. What piece of Apelles could have
animated the Athenians against Phlip of Macedon, like one
of Demosthenes’s Orations? What picture of Love can equal
the description of that passion by Lucretius, the noblest
wit of all the Latin Poets? It
Edition: current; Page: [21]is hardly, I believe, possible for colours to carry
images higher than they are by Michael Angelo carried, in
his piece of the Last Day: yet I believe it not only possible, but easy to make
a description of that day more affecting than the sight of that celebrated
piece.

Sect. II.: How much he excells in Description
and Force.

PAINTING in words is the strongest painting; and in that art
Tacitus excells to amazement. His images are many, but
close and thick; his words are few, but pointed and glowing; and even his
silence is instructive and affecting.

How justly does he represent that noble sullenness and
disdain of the wife of Arminius, when brought with other
captives before Germanicus? Inerant &
feminæ nobiles, inter quas uxor Arminii, eademque filia Segestis, mariti magis
quam parentis animo, neque victa in lacrymas, neque voce supplex, compressis
intra sinum manibus gravidum uterum intuens, A. 1. c.
57. A circumstance of distress more moving than this last, could not be
devised; and what words, or exclamations, or tears could raise compassion so
effectually, as the representation of a spirit too great to weep or complain;
of a grief too mighty to be uttered?

The March of Germanicus and his Army
to the Forest of Teutburg, to bury the bones of Varus and
his Legions, there massacred by the Germans; the description of that Camp, with
the revival of the circumstances of that tragical event; and the sympathy and
resentments of the Soldiers, are all beautifully displayed with great force and
brevity, with equal tenderness and horror.

Here is eloquence and description! What can be added, what can be
taken away? His stile is every where warm and pathetick, and he never informs
the understanding, or entertains the imagination, but he kindles the
affections. You are not only convinced by his sentiments, but governed by them,
charmed with them, and grow zealous for them. This is a trial of the power and
skill of a writer: this the drift and glory of persuasion and eloquence; and
this the talent of Tacitus.

It was his business and design to lay open the iniquity
and horrors of their mis-rule; sæva jussa, continuas
accusationes, fallaces amicitias, perniciem innocentium. You see the
bloody hands of the executioners, Rome swimming in the blood of her own
Citizens, and all the rage of unrelenting Tyranny; undantem per
domos sanguinem, aut manus carnificum. You see the bands of accusers let
loose, nay hired to destroy, and breathing death and exile; sævitiam oratorum accusationes minitantium: delatores per præmia
eliciebantur. You see the barbarous outrages of an insolent and merciless
soldiery; cuncta sanguine, ferro, flammisque miscent. You
see madmen bear rule, these mad rulers governed and made worse by slaves,
villains, and harlots; yet all these monsters adored, their persons,
wickedness, and even their fury sanctified; iniquity exalted, virtue trod under
foot, laws perverted, righteousness and truth depressed and banished; every
worthy man doomed to scaffolds, rocks, and dungeons; the basest of all men
pronouncing that doom, and making a prey or a sacrifice of the best; fear and
distrust and treachery prevailing; the destroyers themselves haunted with the
perpetual dread of destruction, at last overtaken by it, yet seldom leaving
better in their room.

All these melancholy scenes you see exposed in colours
strong and moving: the thoughts are great, the phrase elevated, and the words
chaste and few. It is all a picture: whatever he says, you see, and all that
you see affects you. It puzzles one to give instances, because there are so
many in every page. How many affecting images are there in these few words near
the beginning of the first Annal; Quotusquisque reliquus qui
rempublicam vidisset? How mournful too and expressive, yet how plain are
these which immediately follow! Igitur verso civitatis
Edition: current; Page: [24]statu, nihil usquam prisci & integri moris;
as well as those a little before; rebus novis aucti tuta &
præsentia, quam vetera & periculosa mallent.

Who but Tacitus could have said as
he does of the antient Germans: Argentum & aurum propitii
an irati Dii negaverint, dubito? or that afterwards of the same people:
mira diversitate naturæ, cum iidem homines sic ament inertiam,
quietem oderint? or that of the Sitones, a particular Clan of Germans, who
were under the Government of a Woman; in tantum non modo a
libertate, sed etiam a servitute degenerant? These are such instances of
discernment, sagacity and happy expression, as few Writings can shew. By them
and a thousand more, it is manifest that Tacitus saw every
thing in a true and uncommon light: and his reflections are like mirrours where
human nature and government are exhibited in their proper size and colours.

I cannot help thinking That to be a bold and gallant Saying of
Boiocalus to the Roman General, who refused him a mansion
for himself and his people in the vacant lands of Frizia; and thence provoked
him to implore the Sun and Stars: quasi coram interrogabat,
vellentne contueri inane solum? potius mare superfunderent adversus terrarum
ereptores. Deesse nobis terram in qua vivamus; in qua moriamur non potest.
What a sublime thought is that of his concerning the Fennians? The most savage
and wretched race this of all the wild Germans; their cloathing, skins; their
bed, the earth; their food, the grass; destitute of horses, houses, and arms;
Edition: current; Page: [27]the thick branches of trees their only shelter against
tempests and the ravening beasts: Here they find cradles and protection for
their babes; here live the old men, and hither resort the young. Yet this
miserable life they prefer to that of sweating at the plough, and to the pains
of rearing houses: they thirst not after the fortunes of others; they have no
anxiety about preserving their own; so that they hoped for nothing that was not
theirs, and having nothing of their own, could fear to lose nothing;
securi (says Tacitus) adversus homines, securi adversus deos, rem difficillimam adsecuti
sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus sit.

Sect. IV.: The Morality ofTacitus,and his spirit virtuous and
humane.

AS obvious too as his other great qualities, is his love of
Mankind, of Civil Liberty, and of private and publick Virtue. His Book is a
great tablature of the ugliness and horrors of Tyranny; of the scandal and
infamy of servitude and debasement; of the loveliness of virtue and a free
spirit; of the odiousness of vice and sycophancy. Such was his sympathy for the
sufferings and severe lot of the Romans under Tiberius,
that he is glad of a digression from home, and keeps thence as long as he can,
to relieve his soul from attending to domestick evils; duabus
æstatibus gesta conjunxi, quo requiesceret animus a domesticis malis. He
grieves for the slavish spirit, for the stupid tameness of the Romans under the
Tyranny of the detestable Nero. So much Roman blood
wantonly shed by that monster, is a load upon his soul, and oppresses it with
sorrow. Patientia servilis, tantumque sanguinis domi perditum,
fatigant animum, & mæstitia restringunt.

He delights in good times, in publick Liberty and
virtuous Reigns, and delights to praise them;
Edition: current; Page: [28]such as those of Nerva and
Trajan;rara temporum felicitate, ubi
sentire quæ velis, & quæ sentias dicere licet. In what a different
strain does he speak of the foregoing Emperors? Nobilitas,
opes, omissi gestique honores pro crimine, & ob virtutes certissimum
exitium. He glories however that the worst and most faithless times
produced many instances of friendship and generous fidelity; non tamen adeo virtutum sterile seculum, ut non & bona exempla
prodiderit.

He is fond of a virtuous Character; as that of
Labeo:Labeo incorrupta libertate & ob
id fama celebratior: such as that of Lepidus;hunc ego Lepidum temporibus illis, gravem & sapientem virum
fuisse comperio: nam plæraque ab sævis adulationibus aliorum, in melius
flexit: and that of L. Piso chief Pontiff;
nulliu servilis sententiæ sponte auctor. How amiable are
the Death and last words of L. Arruntius, like those of a
Patriot, and a Prophet! But how vile every where, and even miserable and
insecure, are Tyrants, Flatterers and the Ministers of Iniquity? What he says
of the first I have quoted above: and against the other hear his honest
indignation: tempora infecta, & adulatione sordida fuere.
Fædaque & nimia censerent. Adulatio perinde anceps si nulla, & ubi
nimia est. Delatores genus hominum in exitium publicum repertum, perniciem
aliis, ac postremo sibi invenere. What an odious insect is Vatinius; what a horrible villain Tigellinus; what infamous sycophants are Capito and Vitellius; and what a shocking
paricide is Serenus, the accuser of his father and a
general accuser?

Edition: current; Page: [29]

Sect. V.: The Stile ofTacitus,how pertinent and happy: his
Obscurity, a charge of the moderns only.

BESIDES the grandeur and dignity of his phrase, he is remarkable
for a surprising brevity: but let his words be ever so few, his thought and
matter are always abundant. His expression is like the dress of Poppæa Sabina, described by himself; velata
parte oris ne satiaret aspectum, vel quia sic decebat. He starts the Idea, and leaves
the Imagination to pursue it. The sample he gives you is so fine, that you are
presently curious to see the whole piece, and then you have your share in the
merit of the discovery; a compliment which some able Writers have forgot to pay
to their Readers. I cannot help thinking Mr. Locke a great
deal too wordy, and that the plainness of his propositions, as well as their
strength, suffers often by an explanation over-diffuse. Dr. Tillotson’s stile is much better, indeed very fine, but takes
up too much room; it is likely he chose it as fit for popular discourses; since
it is plain from the vivacity of his Parts, and the many fine turns found in
his Writings, that he could have been very sententious. These two great names
are by no man reverenced more than I reverence them, and without malignity I
mention them, as I do that of the worthy Lord Clarendon,
whose language is weighty, and grave, but encumbred and even darkened, I might
say flattened, with a multiplication of words.

Stile is a part of Genius, and Tacitus had one peculiar to himself, a sort of a language of
his own, one fit to express the amazing vigour of his spirit, and that
redundancy of reflections which for force and frequency are to be equalled by
no Writer before or since. Besides, the course and
Edition: current; Page: [30]fluency of his Narration, is almost every where broken
by persons whom he introduces speaking and debating; insomuch that a great part
of his History comes out of the mouths of other people, and in expressions
suitable to their several Characters. It is plain too that the older he grew,
the more he pruned and curtailed his Stile; for his Histories are much more
copious and flowing than his Annals: and thus what has been by others reckoned
a fault, was in him the effect of his judgment. Neither were his Works intended
for the populace; but for such as governed States, or such as attended to the
conduct of Governors; nor, were the Stile and Latin ever so plain, would they
ever be understood by such as do not. As Plutarch came to
understand the Roman Tongue by understanding their Affairs; Tacitus is to be known by knowing human nature, and the
elements and mechanism of Government.

It is madness to wish for the manner and redundancy of
Livy in the Writings of Tacitus. They
wrote at different times, and of Governments differently formed. Tacitus had transactions of another sort to describe, and other
sorts of men; (for by Government men are changed); the crooked arts of policy,
the false smiles of power, the jealousy, fury and wantonness of Princes
uncontrolled; the flattery of the grandees; the havock made by the accusers,
and universal debasement of all men: matter chiefly for reflection, complaints
and rebuke! Nobis in arto, & inglorius labor: mœstæ urbis
res, &c.Livy had another field and more scope;
the History of a Commonwealth rising, forming and conquering; perpetual
victories and matter of panegyrick; and his pen flowed like the prosperity of
the State. Ingentia bello, expugnationes urbium, fusos
captosque reges, discordias Consulum adversus Tribunos, agrarias
frumentariasque leges,
Edition: current; Page: [31]plebis & optimatium certamina, libere egressu
memorabat, An. 4. 32. Doubtless he could have adopted another Stile if he
would, perhaps the stile of Livy, as I think this very
quotation shews; but Tacitus had another view and different
topicks; nor would another stile, the easy and numerous stile of Livy, have answered his purpose. I fancy too that no body who
knows Tacitus, would wish him to have written in a strain
different from what he has done. There are charms in his manner and words, as
well as in his thoughts, and he wears the only dress that would become him.

It is amazing that this obscurity of his should never be
mentioned by any of the Antients who mention him. It is a fault discovered by
the Moderns, though, in my opinion, common to him with other Classical Writers;
nor has he puzzled the Commentators more than Horace, Cicero,
Pliny, Sallust,&c. His Latin is truly pure and
classical; he has few or no words which had not been used by approved writers,
nor does he often give new ideas to old words. If his Works were no wise
obscure to men of sense when he composed them, as we have no reason to think;
it is insolence and folly in us to reckon his obscurity a fault. It is a dead
language which he writes in, and he wrote seventeen hundred years ago. When
Tacitus the Emperor directed copies of his Books to be
placed in all the Libraries, and for their better preservation, to be
transcribed ten times every year, he ordered no Grammarian to explain his
abstruse places; though the Historian had been then dead near two hundred
years. Great Writers are in their manner and phrase a Law and Authority to
themselves; and not confined to the Rules that fill the heads or grammars of
small wits and pedants. Milton has a stile of his own, and
rules for writing of his own; and who that tastes his genius
Edition: current; Page: [32]would wish him more fashionable and exact, or to have
written otherwise. I am even pleased with the jarrings of Milton’s phrases. But here I chiefly mean his poetical style.
Of his prose I shall make mention hereafter.

When the subject varies, so
should the stile: that of Tacitus is marvellously suited to
his subject and design; had it been more familiar, it had neither been so just
nor so beautiful. To me nothing is more so than the manner of Tacitus; his words and phrases are admirably adapted to his
matter and conceptions, and make impressions sudden and wonderful upon the mind
of man. The doleful condition of the Emperor Vitellius,
when deserted by his fortune and all men, is strong and tragical as imagination
and words can make it. Terret solitudo & tacentes loci; tentat clausa;
inhorrescit vacuis; fessusque misero errore, & pudenda latebra semet
occultans, à Tribuno protrahitur. Vinctæ pone tergum manus; laniata veste,
fædum spectaculum ducebatur, multis increpantibus, he
adds, nullo inlachrymante; and the reason he gives for
this, is judicious and fine; deformitas exitus misericordiam abstulerat.
What follows is in the same affecting strain; as are the first
sensible approaches of his calamity. Vitellius, capta urbe, Aventinum in
domum uxoris cellula defertur, ut si diem latebra vitavisset
Terracinam—perfugeret: dein mobilitate ingenii, & quæ natura pavoris est,
cum omnia metuenti, præsentia maxime displicerent, in palatium regreditur,
vastum desertumque; dilapsis etiam infimis servorum, aut occursum ejus
declinantibus.

Who would blame Tacitus for a
paucity of words, when he conveys so many images in so few? Is
habitus animorum fuit, ut pessimum facinus auderent pauci, plures vellent,
omnes paterentur? Where can there be a happier expression than that
concerning Galba, when the Empire was already rent from
Edition: current; Page: [33]him, and he knew it not? Ignarus
interim Galba & sacris intentus, fatigabat alieni jam imperii deos.
When Otho, proclaimed Emperor by no more than three and
twenty Soldiers, was advancing to the Camp, & paucitate
salutantium trepidus; the behaviour and acquiescence of those he met in
his way are accounted for with surprising brevity and justness; alii conscientia, plerique miraculo; pars clamore & gladiis,
pars silentio, animum ex eventu sumpturi. There is infinite pathos in what
he says of the Omens and Phænomena, which were observed during the Civil Wars,
and the strife of Princes; cœlo terraque prodigia, &
fulminum monitus, & futurorum præsagia læta, tristia, ambigua,
manifesta. What can be more solemn, sounding and sublime, even in
Lucretius? When Nero was disgracing
himself and the Roman State, by debasing his person to that of a player upon
the publick Stage; how pathetically is the behaviour and spirit of
Burrus described in a few words; adstabat
Burrus mærens & laudans!

Sect. VI.: A general Character of his
Works.

THERE is no end of specimens and examples; it is all over a
wonderful Book, full of wisdom, full of virtue; of astonishing strokes of
genius and superior sense. Yet he seems not to value himself upon his great
thoughts; the finest things fall from him like common things; he says them
naturally, and never dwells upon one, because he has always more to utter. When
he has struck your imagination, and you want to stand still and ruminate, you
have no time; he draws, or rather forces you forward, and the next thought
strikes you as much; so does the third, and all of them; and you go on reading
and wondering, yet wishing for leisure to ponder and recollect. But he gives
you
Edition: current; Page: [34]none; for from first to last the present reflection is
always the best.

’Tis all of it eternal good sense, and will bear an eternity of time and
censure. It is no wise akin to your pretty trifles of humour and fancy, that
just tickle the imagination, but go no deeper, and please for a day. His
beauties are solid, and upon the strictest examination discover no paint or
tinsel; his wisdom and instruction are inexhaustible, and his works
consequently an everlasting feast. I have seen several performances of
tolerable length and notable reputation, all derived from so many short
sentences of Tacitus, well wiredrawn and paraphrased. He is
indeed a fund for Writers who have discretion and stile, but want depth.

There is a fine short Character of Tacitus in
Owen’s Epigrams;

Veracem fecit probitas, natura sagacem,

Obscurum brevitas te, gravitasque brevem. Ep.
157.

Sect. VII.: Tacitusvindicated from the imputation of deriving events from counsels too
subtle and malevolent.

HE is accused too of over-much subtilty and refining, and of
deriving the actions of his Princes, even the most innocent and plausible, from
crooked designs, and a base heart; and of imputing to craft and politicks what
was often no more than the effect of inclination and passion: A charge in my
opinion intirely groundless. Tacitus describes things and
men as they are, shews particulars acting agreeably to their characters, their
situation and views; and represents counsels flowing from such sources only as
were likely to produce them. Let us examine his reign of Tiberius for which he is chiefly censured.

Edition: current; Page: [35]

The first feat of this reign, was the murder of
Agrippa, the grandson of Augustus.
Tiberius ordered it, and denied it, and threatned the Centurion who was
the executioner, that he should answer for it to the Senate. This is the
account given by Tacitus, and the same is given by
Suetonius; the former adds, that it was done from jealousy
of State, and for the removal of a Rival; and what other reason is to be given?
for he had shewn how improbable it was that the same had been ordained by
Augustus, though this was pretended, as Suetonius too testifies. Nor was any thing more natural than
his apprehensions of Germanicus, a young Prince popular
above all men, and at the head of a great army, who wanted him for their
Emperor in the room of Tiberius. This is matter of fact,
and well attested. Now where is the extreme refining, to represent
Tiberius as contriving to remove such a dangerous man, one
of such good pretences and powerful interest, first from his faithful Legions,
and then from home, for ever; though at the same time he flattered him,
extolled him, and heaped honours upon him? All this is but the common road of
such Courts, when they have the same designs and fears. Is it not usual in
Turkey to load a Bashaw with Imperial Presents, to bestow upon him some great
Government, and to murder him before he arrive at it?

Is not power a jealous and artificial thing, full of
fears and wiles; and is not Tiberius allowed by all men to
have been a Prince of infinite distrust, craft, and cruelty? What meant he by
making great men Governors of Provinces, and yet never suffering them to go
thither for a course of years, nor even out of Rome, though they still held the
name? What meant he by continuing others in the actual possession of Provinces
for a long tract of years, nay
Edition: current; Page: [36]frequently to the end of their life? Was it not his
distrust of the former; and that as to the latter, he could not make a safer
choice, and therefore was afraid to choose any? Yet Tacitus, far from diving into his Politicks in this matter, or
being subtle and dogmatical about it, gives you the sentiments of others;
alii lædio novæ curæ, semel placita pro æternis servavisse.
Quidam, invidia, ne plures fruerentur. Sunt qui existimant, ut callidum ejus
ingenium, ita anxium judicium; neque enim eminentis virtutes sectabatur, &
rursum vitia oderat: ex optimis periculum sibi; a pessimis dedecus publicum
metuebat. Never was any thing said more impartial, never any thing more
just and solid. From the doubles and even contradictions that possess the heart
of man, the conduct of men will be perplexed and contradictory. It is allowed
that alieni appetens, sui profusus, was a just branch in
the Character of Catiline, and is reckoned one of the
beauties and strong places in Sallust. Without
peradventure, as beautiful, and strong, and just, is this of Tacitus;neque eminentis virtutis sectabatur,
& rursum vitia oderat; the reason too assigned for it, is equally just
and fine; ex optimis periculum sibi; a pessimis dedecus
publicum metuebat. Is not this accounting, from the principles of nature
and self-preservation, for the conduct and politicks of Tiberius? Many of his actions and measures, recounted by
Tacitus, are supported by collateral evidence, by
Suetonius, Pliny, Dion Cassius, and others; many by them
omitted are by him related, with such probability, and so perfectly resemble
the rest of his conduct, that we must deny Tiberius to have
been such a Prince as all men agree he was, or believe the account of him given
by Tacitus.

His dissimulation was constant and notorious. In the
very beginning, while he confidently acted
Edition: current; Page: [37]as Emperor, with all the pomp and might of Majesty, he
openly refused the Empire; Principatum (says
Suetonius) quamvis neque occupare
confestim, neque agere dubitasset, vi & specie dominationis assumpta, diu
tamen recusavit impudentissimo animo; Such severe language as this is not
given him by Tacitus.

Does Tacitus represent him as hating and fearing the
great Romans, and illustrious Senators? And do not other Historians; do not the
facts themselves prove it? Was he not continually destroying them, till they
were almost all destroyed? Of the twenty Grandees particularly (principum Civitatis) whom he desired of the Senate, for his
Confidents and Counsellors, he left not above two or three alive; all the rest
were by treachery and feigned crimes cut off by him: Horum
omnium vix duos aut tres incolumes præstitit; cæteros, alium alia de causa
perculit, says Suetonius. Is Tacitus therefore too refined, in discovering what facts
demonstrate? Is it not Suetonius too who says,
Multa specie gravitatis, ac morum corrigendorum, sed magis
naturæ obtemperans, sæve & atrociter factitavit? “It was usual with
him, to do actions exceeding barbarous and merciless, yet all under shew of
Justice, and the reforming of Manners; but in reality from the instigation of
his own cruel spirit.” Is Suetonius also over subtle, the
Historian in the world the most plain, and seldom aiming at a reflection? For
what reason did he suffer the boundaries of the Empire to be invaded, and
Provinces to be seized by the Barbarians, but from fear of trusting any great
Officer with the conduct of the War?

That he affected to derive all power from the Senate,
yet left them but the shadow of authority, and was even jealous of that shadow,
is sacredly true. It was even natural; and wanted no resining, to discover it.
Did not Cromwel do the same?
Edition: current; Page: [38]And are not all men willing to have their power,
however lawless, legitimated, and the odium of their acts of violence
transferred upon others? Will any one say, that the Senate liked his acts of
Sovereignty, his frequent impeachments of their Members, often the best and
most innocent, and his obliging them to condemn, (for he that dares not refuse
is forced to consent) and his leaving every particular in continual dread of
being the next; which was a farther motive in each to hatred and complaisance?
He knew he had earned their hate, reputante sibi publicum
odium. Is it likely now that he loved them, or that there was or could be
sincerity or confidence on either side? What did his retirement in the Isle of
Capreæ, with his perpetual absence from Rome, infer, but continual distrust of
the Senate and People? Just before he expired, he was hastening from a ramble
upon the Continent, back to his Den, non temere quidquam nisi
ex tuto ausurus; to take measures of vengeance against the Senate, for
that he had read in their acts, that they had discharged certain persons
accused, though he had writ to the Senate, that they were only named by the
informer; pro contempto se habitum fremens, repetere Capreas
quoque modo destinavit, non temere, &c. This too is related by
Suetonius. It is certain the Senate were to all these
Tyrants a constant mark of jealousy and hate; and some of them, particularly
Caligula and Nero, had proposed to
extirpate that venerable Assembly, by murdering the whole Body.

Sect. VIII.: More Proofs of the Candour and
Veracity ofTacitus.

TACITUS makes Tiberius no worse than he was,
hardly so bad. That he doomed almost his whole family to exile, famine, or the
Edition: current; Page: [39]executioner; that his cruel suspicion and distrust
extended even to women, even to his mother, nay to children, relations and
strangers, to names, nobility, and all men, is undeniable. Nor does
Tacitus relate any part of the conduct or politicks of
Tiberius, but what evidently results either from the nature
of the man, or the nature of his power. He frequently speaks well of that
Prince; and ill he could not avoid speaking, if he spoke of him at all. Nay the
whole sixth chapter of the fourth Annal, is a fine panegyrick upon the
moderation and wisdom of his Government for eight years before: publica negotia, & privatorum maxima, apud patres tractabantur;
dabaturque primoribus disserere, & in adulationem lapsos cohibebat ipse;
mandabatque honores, nobilitatem majorum, claritudinem militiæ, inlustres domi
artes spectando: ut satis constaret non alios potiores fuisse. Sua consulibus,
sua prætoribus species; minorum quoque magistratuum exercita potestas;
legesque, si majestatis quæstio eximeretur, bono in usu, &c.

What can be fairer than this? and do not other
Historians agree that he grew worse and worse: that he had long smothered his
vices, and was, first and last, a complete dissembler? And is it just upon
Tacitus, to accuse him of displaying the subtleties and
craft of a Prince, who was all craft and subtlety? Does he not give us the good
and bad of his character, and frequently defend it? Does he not say of him, in
opposition to popular opinion and report, non crediderim ad
ostentandam sævitiam, movendasque populi offensiones concessam filio materiam;
quanquam id quoque dictum est? An. 1. c. 76.

Does he not represent Tiberius
elsewhere as mollifying a rigorous sentence of the Senate, for banishing a
criminal to a barren and desolate Island, and arguing that to whomsoever they
granted life, they ought to grant the conveniences of life; dandos
Edition: current; Page: [40]vitæ usus, cui vita concederetur? Does he not
represent him in another place absolutely refusing a new accession of power,
and arguing against it, like a Republican; yet charges him there with no
dissimulation?

In Tacitus you have no false colouring, no true worth
blemished, no bad qualities disguised; but fair representations and equal
justice. Tiberius is a dangerous Prince, extremely false,
extremely cruel; but he has many abilities, and some good qualities. He is
prudent in moderating the excesses of others, where he was not instigated by
his own personal anger; prudens moderandi, ubi propriâ irâ non
impelleretur. He loved power without bounds; yet was constant and resolute
in rejecting pompous honours; spernendis honoribus
validus: a great Tyrant, but a Prince observing the rules of primitive
parcimony; antiquæ parcimoniæ princeps: furiously jealous
of prerogative; yet the laws, where processes of treason interfered not, were
in proper force; leges, si majestatis quæstio eximeretur, bono
in usu. He is inflexible in his vengeance, and where-ever his jealousy or
anger centers, there terrible tragedies are sure to follow; yet the popular
imputation of his poisoning his son, is by Tacitus exposed
as incredible and fabulous; with many the like instances of eminent
impartiality. He gives fair quarter to the Man, but none to the Tyrant.

To Claudius, a stupid Prince, and almost a changeling,
who had no judgment, no aversion of his own, but only such as were insused and
managed by others, he allows a share of sense at intervals; allows that he did
some reasonable things, gave good advice to the Prince of Parthia; and wanted
not elegance in his speeches, when his speeches were premeditated. He owns the
spirit of Sovereignty to be jealous and unsociable; but as an exception from
this rule, mentions the amiable friendship and
Edition: current; Page: [41]union between Germanicus and
Drusus, in the Court of Tiberius,
though their different interests had rent the whole Court into factions. He
owns the friendship of Drusus, for the children of
Germanicus; though the participation of power, and the
union of hearts, are seldom compatible.

The same fair temper and truth he observes in the Conduct and Character of
Galba, Otho, and even of Nero and
Vitellius; and it was his business and design to lay open
the iniquity and horrors of their misrule.

These are some of the objections made to the Writings of
Tacitus, and I think with extreme injustice. His Critics
are more subtle than he; they are false refiners, who for the reputation of
sagacity, make singular remarks, and serve him as they say he did
Tiberius; they pervert and blacken his designs, and are too
curious to be equitable. Tacitus, with a masterly
discernment, unravels the mysterious conduct of Tiberius;
it is from awe of his Mother, it is from fear of Germanicus, it is from jealousy of the Grandees, and with
design to amuse and humour, or to deceive them all, that he rules and acts with
such temper and moderation, against the bent and pride of his nature always
imperious and tyrannical. But when he had well established himself; when
Germanicus was dead; when his Mother too was gone; when he
had crushed some of the Grandees, and terrified all; and especially when he was
far from the eyes of Rome, is it not most true, that he then gave a loose to
all the excesses of vileness and cruelty? cuncta simul vitia,
male diu dissimulata, tandem profudit. It is not Tacitus who says this.

Was he not continually mocking and deluding the Senate?
First he would by no means accept the
Edition: current; Page: [42]Empire, at a time when he was actually in possession;
sometimes he was weary of it, and would needs resign at every turn. Before he
quitted the City, he was for visiting the Provinces, and for this purpose many
preparations were made, and high expectation raised; then, when he had retired
to Capreæ, he was continually amusing them with his immediate return to Rome,
nay begged one of the Consuls to guard him. He carried the deceit so far, that
he often visited the Continent, and the very Walls and Gardens about Rome; but
never once returned to Rome, nor visited the Provinces, nor had a thought of
resigning. The Commonwealth was always in his mouth, even when he was acting
the Tyrant most; he professed eminent moderation while he was meditating acts
of cruelty; and in instances of injustice and rigour, pleaded law and
mercy.

His malice in leaving so wicked a Successor appears more
from Suetonius than from Tacitus, who
allows him to have had some thoughts of appointing another; but the former
testifies expresly, that Tiberius was wont to foretel what
a devouring Dragon he reared for the Roman people, and what a Phaeton or incendiary to the whole earth. Tacitus is vouched by Suetonius in what he
says was reported for the motive which determined Augustus
to adopt Tiberius;ambitione tractum, ut
tali successore considerabilior ipse quandoque fieret. Suet. in Tiber. c.
21. The same too is testified by Dion Cassius.

Edition: current; Page: [43]

Sect. IX.: Mr.Bayle’s unjust censure ofTacitus;and how well the latter knew and
observed the Laws of History.

MR. Bayle in his Dictionary in the Article of Tacitus,
quotes some passages out of a Book entitled Anonymiana, (a
very foolish book) where Tacitus is criticized as above,
and approves those passages. This is the less matter of wonder to me, for that
Mr. Bayle, with all his immense learning, acuteness, and
candour, had a strange and unnatural biass to absolute Monarchy, though he had
fled from the fury of it, and taken refuge in a free State. A proof this that
great weakness cleaves to the greatest minds; and who can boast an exemption
from prejudices, when a spirit so signally disinterested and philosophical as
that of Bayle was not exempted? He himself says of
Tacitus,qu’il y a bien à reprendre dans
l’affectation de son langage, & dans celle de rechercher les motifs secrets
des actions, & de les tourner vers le criminel. That this charge is
groundless I have already proved. Much less to be regarded is the authority of
Mr. St. Evremond in his censure upon Tacitus: his observations are without depth, to say no worse;
nor have I found in his Works any political observations remarkable for
solidity and force. What he has said of the Romans, is superficial, and often
wrong.

Tacitus knew perfectly the Laws of History, and blames
the passionate and partial accounts given by those who described the same
reigns; since those of them which were written during the lives of the Princes,
were falsified through dread of their Tyranny, and when dead, through
detestation of their late cruelties. He had no motive to be
Edition: current; Page: [44]partial; free as he was from affection, free from
resentment. He knew that truth uncorrupted was the Business of an Historian,
and that personal affection and hate should have no share in the work;
nec amore quisquam, & sine odio dicendus est. Of
Galba, Otho, and Vitellius he says,
that to him they were known by no mark either of favour or diskindness. The
same is true of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and
Nero. He shews how the truth was corrupted, first by
flattery, then by resentment; and professes to be far from either. I think he
is as good as his word.

Sect. X.: An Apology for the wrong account
byTacitusgiven of the Jews and
Christians, and for his disregard of the Religion then received.

THERE are other accusations against Tacitus:
he has misrepresented the Jews and Christians, and wanted Religion.

Concerning the Jews, he followed the tradition and
accounts current amongst the Romans. He tells you what different relations
there were, and neither adds any thing, nor misrepresents things maliciously.
It was an obscure State, generally enslaved to some greater power; to the
Assyrians, Ægyptians, Grecians, and then to the Romans; and contemned by all,
as much as they themselves hated all. They had not common mercy or charity
toward the Gentiles and uncircumcised; and being persuaded that the Almighty
loved only themselves, they fancied that he abhorred, and therefore they
abhorred, the whole human race besides: so that it was said by Tacitus too truly, adversus omnes alios hostile
odium. They were likewise ever solicitous to hide their mysteries from the
Edition: current; Page: [45]eyes of the Heathens, and could not blame them for not
knowing what was not to be known. Yet he was not ill informed in some
instances, especially in their spiritual notions of the Deity, with their
aversion to Images, and to the adoration of the Emperors: nulla
simulacra urbibus suis; non regibus hæc adulatio, non Cæsaribus honor.

Of the Gospel it is manifest he knew nothing; he could
not else have made so ugly a picture of those who professed it; for it is not
likely that the Christians were yet so degenerated as to disgrace the Christian
Religion. Tacitus wanted an opportunity to be better
informed. That Religion, as it began among the lower sort of people, had not
probably hitherto gained many proselytes of name and quality, to countenance
and recommend it to men of figure. Tacitus considered it
like a Statesman, as a new Sect inconsistent with the Laws of Rome, and
threatning civil tumults and innovations. It is probable too he had heard and
credited the calumnies then usually thrown upon the manners and meetings of
that people. Nor after the best instruction could he have become a Believer
without the illumination of the Spirit; which, it is plain, was withheld from
him: and, without a change of heart, it was impossible for him to conceive the
Resurrection of the dead, and the Crucifixion of the Son of God. Yet he does
them the justice to vindicate them from the obloquy of Nero, and exposes the barbarity of their treatment by that
Tyrant.

For his disregarding the Religion then received, when I
consider what sorts of absurdities the Pagans held for Religion, I cannot so
much blame him. It was a worship paid to Deities altogether frantick and
impure, by sacrifices and follies ridiculous and vain; and both their Worship
and their Gods were invented by the cunning or delusion of men. It
Edition: current; Page: [46]consisted in no purification of heart, nor amendment
of morals; the things which men and societies require; but in sounds,
gesticulation, and the blood of beasts; not in truth and sense, in benevolence
and rectitude of mind; but in lying oracles, unaccountable mysteries, and a
raving imagination; sometimes in professed acts of lewdness; often in those of
fury and madness; always in such as were foreign from real virtue, and the
restraining of the passions. Public calamities were never thought to be brought
down by public depravity and vice, nor to be averted or removed by public
reformation. The Gods were not offended but by the omission, or wrong
performance of some ceremony or grimace; and by grimace and ceremony they were
to be appeased. And when the Deities were deemed to be endowed with the
peevishness and caprices of children and apes, or the phrenzy of lunatics, what
man of sense could reverence them, or believe in them? It would not have
redounded to the reputation of his sense, if he had. Where Religion is pure
Superstition, and the belief of it absolutely groundless and blind; where its
Rites are fanciful, foolish, and unmanly, as the Religion, and Gods, and
Worship of the Pagans were; it would have been a revolt from common Reason to
have had any such Religion. We know how freely Cicero deals
with their Gods.

It is true that these great men of Rome, who either had
no notion of Religion, or one quite opposite to that publicly received and
practised, regarded it as far as it was interwoven with the constitution of the
State, and subservient to the ends of Government: yet they suffered their
Poets, especially the dramatic Poets, to treat their Gods with severe jests and
satire. They seemed to be of Tiberius’s mind,
Deorum injurias diis curæ; that is, to leave to the Gods
the avenging of indignities
Edition: current; Page: [47]done to the Gods. Men were punished for their
libelling particulars, people of condition, and especially Magistrates; but to
ridicule and lampoon the Deities, Jupiter himself, even
upon the Stage, was a matter of impunity and diversion.

Their Religion therefore consisting in Rituals, a man
might be very religious with a very debauched and libertine Spirit.
Cultor deorum parcus & infrequens, is a complaint made
by Horace of himself, but does not seem to infer much
heavenly-mindedness, nor a departure from his impure pleasures. One might, on
the contrary, be exactly good and just, nay the pattern of Virtue, and a public
patriot, without any tincture of their Religion. Such was Cato the Censor, such Epicurus, and such
was Tacitus. He thought that either there was no Providence
(for his mind wavered between the doctrine of necessity and that of chance) or
such a Providence as he could have well spared; non esse curæ
Deis securitatem nostram, esse ultionem. But this bold reproach upon the
Deities, he uttered after his heart, zealous for the good of his Country, had
been heated by a terrible detail of her Calamities.

Nor indeed, according to the ideas conceived of these
odd Beings, so easily humoured and provoked, could one say much good of them,
or expect it from them. In the reign of Nero he enumerates
many presages, from which, as from signals divinely sent, great changes for the
better were inferred; but all vanished into air and disappointment;
prodigia crebra & inrita intercessere, &c. Hence
he argues, that all these omens happened so apparently without any direction or
interposition of the Gods, that, for many years after, Nero
rioted in power and wickedness.

Whatever were the speculations of our Author about
Religion, his Morality is strong and
Edition: current; Page: [48]pure, full of benevolence to human society, full of
every generous passion, and every noble principle; a terrible rebuke to
iniquity, vice and baseness, in all stations and shapes; and one continued
lesson of wisdom and virtue. These are the excellencies which in civil life
recommend Books and Men; these the excellencies which recommend Tacitus; excellencies which he has carried as high as the
utmost efforts of human genius could carry them. Mr. Bayle
says, Ses Annales & son Histoire sont quelque chose
d’admirable, & l’un des plus grands efforts de l’esprit humain; soit que
l’on y considere la singularité du stile, soit que l’on s’attache à la beauté
des penses, & à cet heureux pinceau avec lequel il a sçu peindre les
disguisemens & les fourberies des politiques, & le foible des
passions.

Nor does he shew more abilities than probity, as
astonishing as his abilities were; and having so much, what more did he want
for his design? or what more could we wish in him? Which is the better
instructor, he who has store of saith, but wants virtue, and abounds not in
good sense; or he who wants the first, but abounds in knowledge and the rules
of righteousness? It is for this we consult Tacitus, not
for his Theological Speculations. How do his metaphysical notions impede his
excellencies as an Historian and Politician; or his mistakes in one thing,
lessen his discernment and veracity in another?

According to the accounts of our best Travellers
concerning China, the Mandarins who are the Nobility of the country, the
Learned, and such as hold the Magistracy, have no religion at all, their
governing principle is publick spirit; their principal study the good of the
State; and they are noted for politeness and virtue. The Bonzes or Priests, on the contrary, pretend to extraordinary
devotion; but are vicious, sordid, base, and void
Edition: current; Page: [49]of every virtue private or public. Here is an instance
of a Monarchy the most thriving of any upon earth, or that ever was upon earth;
an Empire that contains more people than half the rest of the globe, these
people full of industry and arts; yet administred by men who are of no
particular Religion, or Sect, but are guided by the natural lights of Reason
and Morality; nor knows it a greater blot and disgrace than the vile lives of
its Priests and Religious.

Against this instance set another, that of the Pope’s
Dominions, the center of the Romish Religions; where holy men sway all things,
and have engrossed all things; where tortures and flames keep out Infidels and
Heretics, and every man who thinks awry; and where the champions for devotion,
so called, protect the Church, and feed themselves. Now where but here should
one look for the marks of opulence, ease, and plenty, and public happiness, if
by an Administration of Priests and Devotees, public happiness were advanced?
But behold a different and melancholy scene! Countries fertile, but desolate;
the people ignorant, idle, and starving, and all the marks and weight of
Misery!

Does not this merit reflection, that a Church blended
and debauched with excessive wealth and power, is worse, a thousand times worse
than none; and that the mere light of nature and reason is many degrees more
conducive to the temporal welfare of humankind, than a Religion or Church which
is purely lucrative and selfish? Were the Romish Church, or any other Church
that teaches pains and penalties; any that exalts Ecclesiastics into power, and
leaves them the sword, or weilds it for them, once established in China; there
would in a little time be an end of their incredible numbers; and it would soon
feel the cruel curse attending the
change. In this sentiment I am vouched by that
Edition: current; Page: [50]polite Writer, and candid Prelate, Dr. Tillotson: “Better it were, says he, there were no revealed
Religion, and that human nature were left to the conduct of its own principles
and inclinations, which are much more mild and merciful, much more for the
peace and happiness of human society; than to be acted by a Religion that
inspires men with so wild a fury, and prompts them to commit such outrages.”
Serm. Vol. I. p. 206.

Make another comparison between two particuculars, a Heathen guided by
reason, and a Christian by passion and false zeal; between Tacitus and St. Jerom; behold the
politeness, candour, eternal truth, and good sense in the one; mark the
rashness and enthusiasm, the fierceness and falshood of the other. So much
stronger were the passions and insincerity of this great Saint, than the
impressions of the Christian Religion, which is all meekness and candour; nay,
he often makes it a stale for his fury, forgeries, and implacable vengeance. I
meddle not with his strange maxims, some foolish, some mad, many impracticable,
and others turbulent and seditious. In Tacitus you have the
good sense and breeding of a Gentleman; in the Saint the rage and dreams of a
Monk. Does the religion of the latter recommend his reveries and bitter spirit;
or the want of it in Tacitus, weaken the shining truths
that are in him?

When a Writer relates facts, or reasons from principles,
his good sense and veracity only are to be regarded; and we have no more to do
with his speculations or mistakes in other matters, than with his person or
complection. Pliny and Aristotle are
reckoned Atheists; but what is this to their fine parts and learning? With
small spirits and bigots every thing that is noble and free, is Atheism and
Blasphemy. The littleness and sourness
Edition: current; Page: [51]of their own hearts, is the measure of all things.
Nerva, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius were
Heathen Princes; but they had virtue and benevolence, and their administration
was righteous: what more did their subjects want from them? Justinian, Constantius, John Basilowitz, John Galeas, and
Lewis the eleventh were Christian Princes, and men
pretending to high Devotion; some of them great contenders for Orthodoxy, and
great builders of Churches; but all barbarous and consuming Tyrants. What were
the people or themselves the better for their Religion, without good nature and
probity? Nay, they made Religion one of the principal machines for Tyranny; as
Religion in a Tyrant or Impostor is little else but an impious bargain and
composition with God for abusing men.

Such in truth is the situation of things below, such the
frame and foible of men, that it depends in a great measure upon Civil
Government, whether Religion shall in this world do good or harm. Is a country
filled with oppression, the happier for being filled too with Churches and
Priests, as were Greece and Italy by Justinian? Or can a
country that abounds in virtue, and happiness, and good Laws, want any more to
all the purposes of social life; like Lacedæmon and Rome in their best ages?
Let us praise all who have true Religion, full of mercy, and void of bigotry;
but let us not condemn such as, for want of the same lights and revelation
which we have been blessed with, are, without any forms of Religion, virtuous
and wise. Certainly worse, much worse than none, is that Religion which
inspires pride, bigotry, and fierceness, and hath not charity for all men.

To conclude this head, I shall here subjoin what I have
said elsewhere to the like purpose; “That black is not white, and that two and
two make four,
Edition: current; Page: [52]is as true out of the mouth of an Atheist, as out of
the mouth of an Apostle. A penny given by an Atheist to a beggar, is better
alms than a half-penny given by a Believer; and the good sense of an Atheist is
preferable to the mistakes of a good Christian. In short, whatever reputed
Atheists do well, or speak truly, is more to be imitated and credited, than
what the greatest Believers do wickedly, or say falsely. Even in the business
of bearing testimony, or making a report, in which cases the credit or
reputation of the witness gives some weight, or none, to what he says; more
regard is to be had to the word of an Unbeliever, who has no interest on either
side, than to the word of a Believer, who has; neither are the good or bad
actions of an Atheist worse, with respect to the world at least, for his being
one; though the sin of a Saint is more sinful than that of a Pagan. It is the
greatest folly to think that any man’s crimes are the less for him who commits
them; or that truth is less or more truth, for the ill or good name of him who
speaks it.”

Sect. XI.: The foolish censure ofBoccaliniand others uponTacitus.

THE censure passed upon Tacitus by
Boccalini and some of the other Commentators, as if he
maliciously taught lessons of Tyranny; is so senseless and absurd, that it
merits no notice, much less consutation. As well may they say that
Luther and father Paul display the
encroachments and frauds of the Church of Rome, on purpose to teach that or
other Churches how to oppress and deceive; or that Livy, as
great a Republican as ever lived, exposed the usurpations and Tyranny of
Tarquin, in order to instruct
Edition: current; Page: [53]Usurpers to support themselves and extinguish public
liberty. Tacitus represents Tyrants as odious to all men,
and even to themselves. But what answer could one give to a man who should
advance that Grotius wrote his Book of the Truth of
Christianity, with a view to promote and confirm Paganism?

Sect. XII.: Of the several Commentators and
Translators ofTacitus.

IT were almost endless to mention all who have written upon
Tacitus, and their success; numbers have done it, many as
Critics, some politically; and several of the former with sufficiency and
applause, such as Lipsius, Freinshemius, old Gronovius, and Ryckius. From the edition
published by this last I have made my Translation; the text is very correct,
and his notes are judicious and good. Of all those who have commented upon his
Politics, I can commend but very few; I mean such as I have seen; many of them
are worse than indifferent; tedious compilations of common places, or heavy
paraphrases upon the original, where its vigour is lost in superfluous
explications; and the lively thoughts of Tacitus converted
into lifeless maxims; frequently wrong converted; frequently trifling and
affected; often such discoveries as are obvious to every peasant or child; or
puffy declamations, tedious, laboured and uninstructive. Of one or the other
sort are the Commentaries of Boccalini, Annibal Scoti,
Forstnerus, Schildus, and divers others.

The Spanish Translation by Don Alamos De
Barrientos, is accompanied with numerous Annotations, by him stiled
Aforismos, which are as indifferent and impotent as the
Translation it self is good and strong. His observation upon, cuncta discordiis civilibus fessa, nomine principis sub imperium
accepit, is, Quando alguno se viniere a hazer Senor de una
grande, y poderosa cividad libre, lo mas ordinario serà despues de una larga
guerra civil; “the opportunity for any one to become master of a great and
powerful free City, is most commonly at the end of a great civil war.”
Tacitus says that Augustus left the
first Lords of the Senate his heirs in the third degree, though most of them
were hated by him; plerosque invisos sibi, sed jactantia
gloriaque ad posteros.Don Alamos observes upon this;
El principe muchas vezes haze honra a las personas que
aborrece, para gagnar fama de modestia y sufrimiento; “a Prince often
confers honours on those he hates, purely for the reputation of moderation
Edition: current; Page: [55]and temper.” Tacitus says of
Germanicus,anxius occultis in se patrui
aviæque odiis, quorum caussæ acriores, quia iniquæ; El hombre inocente y
bueno, (says Don Alamos by way of Annotation)
de ninguna cosa recibe tanta congoxa, como de los secretos
aborrecimientos que sabe le tienen sus parientos, sin merecerlo; “a worthy
and innocent man feels so much anguish from nothing as from the secret hate
which he knows his parents bear him, without deserving it.”

OF small value are such reflections, and small thought they cost to produce
them; the less is the wonder that Don Alamos has vented
such a myriad. Canini, an Italian, has however translated
them into his own language, with high encomiums, and published them with the
Italian Translation of Politi, a Translation which reads
well, but hampers the thoughts of Tacitus, and from an
affectation to be as concise as the original, loses much of its weight and
spirit. Don Alamos, on the contrary, opens the sentiments
of Tacitus fully, often over-fully, by supplemental
parentheses, that are sometimes perfectly needless, and always mar and
embarrass the reading.

These are the only Spanish and Italian Versions which I
have seen of Tacitus. There are two more of the former, by
Sueyro and Coloma, both well esteemed;
and as many more Italian by Dati and Davanzati, not at all commended. Of French Translations there
are five or six, all, except two, good for little, some of them good for
nothing. These two are by Mr. D’Harlay De Chanvallon, who
has done the whole, Mr. Amelot De La Houssaye, who has only
gone as far as the thirteenth Annal. The former is vigorous and just, like that
of a man of sense and observation; nor has the latter any advantage over him,
save that his French is more
Edition: current; Page: [56]modern, if that be any. Ablancourt
is likewise one of the French Translators of Tacitus, a man
of name and of a flowing stile; but if he has abused other Authors as he has
abused and transformed Tacitus, it is fit they were all
done over again. There is some life in him, and harmony, but no justness nor
strength. All the force and fine ideas of Tacitus are lost
in Ablancourt.

Sect. XIII.: A Conjecture concerning the modern
Languages, more largely concerning the English.

OF the French Tongue itself I may venture to say, after better
judges than my self, that from a laxness and effeminacy essential to it, it
cannot naturalize the strong expressions of the Ancients, without spreading and
weakening them considerably. It has a number of relatives, particles and
monosyllables that return incessantly, and flatten the sense, and tire the ear.
The English Language has indeed many words more harsh than the French; but it
has likewise many more spirituous and sounding; and though it be also loaded
with relatives, particles and words of one syllable, yet I think not to the
same degree, nor do those we have return so often; and we can frequently drop
the particles, and leave them to be understood, as well as the relatives.

In this respect the Latins had an advantage over the
Greeks; as those two Languages have over every other that is now in the world,
or perhaps ever was. We are infinitely behind them in significancy and sound,
and, with all our adventitious words and refinements, are still crude and
gothick to them. Nearest in Language to the Ancients come the Spaniards and
Italians, though still far behind; yet they stand over the heads of the English
Edition: current; Page: [57]and French, and walk while we creep. The Spanish is
the more sonorous and lofty; the Italian the more sweet and gliding; and both
excel in harmony, numerosity, and the pomp of words. The Italians seem to have
spoiled their Tongue, by wild hyperboles, and phrases of mere sound and
compliment; whether it be from the turn of the nation to Love and Music;
whether it be from the Legends of their Saints, and their extravagant
Panegyrics upon them, or from their Slavery to Churchmen, or the Severity of
their Government, or from what other cause, I do not pretend to determine.

The French profess to have greatly refined their Tongue;
and it is indeed brought to be exceeding glib and perspicuous; but whether the
refiners have not pared away its strength to make it more shapely and regular,
has been doubted. Some refinements we also have made in ours, perhaps by
imitating the French; though I hope we have better preserved its force. Easy
writing has been studied to affectation; a sort of writing, which, where the
thoughts are not close, the sense strong, and the phrase genteel, is of all
others the most contemptible. Such were the productions of Sir Roger L’Estrange, not fit to be read by any who have taste or
good breeding; they are full of technical terms, of phrases picked up in the
street from apprentices and porters, and nothing can be more low and nauseous.
His sentences, besides their grossness, are lively nothings, which can never be
translated (a sure way to try language) and will hardly bear repetition.
Between hawk and buzzard: clawed him with kindness: alert and
frisky: guzzling down tipple: would not keep touch: a queer putt: lay cursed
hard upon their gizzard: cram his gut: conceited noddy: old chuff: and the
like, are some of Sir Roger’s choice flowers. Yet this man
was reckoned a Master, nay a Reformer of the English
Edition: current; Page: [58]Language; a man who writ no Language; nor does it
appear that he understood any; witness his miserable Translations of
Cicero’s Offices and Josephus. That of
the latter is a Version full of mistakes, wretched and low, from an easy and
polite one of Monsieur D’Andilly.

Sir Roger is one amongst the several hands who attempted
Tacitus, and the third Book of the History is said to be done by him. He knew not a word of it
but what he has taken from Sir Henry Savill, and him he has
wretchedly perverted and mangled. Out of the wise and grave mouth of
Tacitus he brings such quaint stuff as this;
to cast the point upon that issue: — sneaking departure ofVitellius: — at the rate of a man at his
wit’s end: — sottish multitude never went beyond bawling: — an Emperor lugg’d
out of his hole: — the sexton of the Capitol: — the Government dropt intoVespasian’smouth: — not cut out for a
soldier: — went not a sneaking way to work: — Valensin the interim with his dissolute train of capons: [into
this senseless cant word Sir Roger elegantly changes that
of Eunuchs used by Sir H. Savill; for
I dare say he neither saw nor knew the original, agmine
spadonum]: the Emperor guzzling and gormandizing like a
beast.

Such jargon is hardly good enough for a Puppet-shew. Sir
Roger had a genius for buffoonry and a rabble, and higher
he never went; his stile and his thoughts are too vulgar for a sensible
artificer. To put his Books into the hands of youth or boys, for whom chiefly
Æsop, by him burlesqued, was designed, is to vitiate their
taste, and to give them a poor low turn of thinking; not to mention the vile
and slavish principles of the man. He has not only turned Æsop’s plain Beasts, from the simplicity of nature, into
Jesters and Bussoons; but out of the mouths of animals inured to the
Edition: current; Page: [59]boundless freedom of air and desarts, has drawn
doctrines of servitude, and a defence of Tyranny.

The taste and stile of the Court is always the standard
of the public. At the Restoration, a time of great festivity and joy, the
formal and forbidding gravity of the preceding times, became a fashionable
topic of ridicule; a manner different and opposite was introduced; jest and
waggery were encouraged; and the King himself delighted in drollery, and low
humour. Hence the Language became replete with ludicrous phrases; archness and
cant grew diverting; the writings of witlings passed for wit; and if they were
severe upon the Sectaries, as the fashion was, they pleased the Court. By this
means L’Estrange got his character. It is very true that
there appeared at the same time men of just wit, and polite stile; but it
cannot be denied but that the other manner was prevalent; the greatest wits
sometimes fell into it.

This humour ended not with that Reign, nor the next, but
was continued after the Revolution by L’Estrange, Tom
Brown, and other delighters in low jests, their imitators; and such
witlings have contributed considerably to debauch our Tongue. If we go so high
as Queen Elizabeth’s time, we shall find that a good stile
began then to be used, agreeably to the good sense of that Princess, and her
Court; and we have the Language of that age in Sir Walter
Raleigh, whose genius was too just and strong to go into the miserable
pedantry of the next reign. Many of the productions then, and particularly the
Royal productions, are wretched beyond measure; (I wish the honour and politics
of those days had been better) nor could so considerable a man as Sir
Francis Bacon escape the infection.

The next Prince affected a high and rigid gravity, and a
pomp and solemnity of stile became
Edition: current; Page: [60]common; yet the Language began to recover, when the
cant and enthusiasm ensuing, gave it a new turn extremely insipid and
offensive. But between the reign of King James and the
Restoration, several Writers appeared eminently happy in their stile: such
particularly was Mr. Chillingworth, whose language is
flowing, and free as his own candid spirit. The same character is due to the
excellent Lord Falkland, and Mr. Hales
of Eaton. Mr. Hobbes’s English is beautiful almost, if not
altogether, beyond example; nothing can be finer than his way of expressing his
thoughts; his stile is as singularly good, charming and clear, as many of his
principles are dangerous and false. Under this character of his stile I do not
comprize his Translation of Thucydides; as it does not,
however just it be, resemble his other Works. Hence I am inclinable to believe
what I have heard, that it was done by some of his disciples, and by him
revised; yet it far excels most of our Translations. Milton’s English Prose is harsh and uncouth, though vigorous
and expressive. The stile of Selden and Hammond is rugged and perplexed.

Sect. XIV.: A Conjecture concerning the present
state of the English Tongue, with an account of the present Work.

OF the Character of Writing in our own time, were I to give my
opinion, I should be apt to say, that in general it comes too near to talking;
a method which will hardly make it delightful or lasting; no words upon paper
will have the same effect as words accompanied with a voice, looks and action;
hence the thoughts and language should be so far raised as to supply the want
of those advantages; but indeed this is impossible, and therefore there is the
Edition: current; Page: [61]greater cause for heightening the stile; now because
laboured periods are offensive, and flat ones are insipid, the excellency lies
between pomp and negligence. Let it be as easy as you please, but let it be
strong; two advantages that are very compatible, and often found in the same
writer. Livy is remarkable for both; it is his eloquence
and ornaments which have preserved him in such esteem, as much as his matter
and good sense. The late Lord Shaftesbury, though he has
been perhaps too anxious and affected in forming his phrase to easiness and
fluency, has yet had good success; since it is manifest that his soft alluring
stile has multiplied his Readers, and helped powerfully to recommend his Works.
Dr. Burnet of the Charter-House wrote with great eloquence
and majesty, yet easy and unaffected. Dr. Tillotson’s stile
is plain and pleasant, enlivened too with fine images, and strong sense; yet
many, while they strove to imitate him, have written very poorly. This has
happened to some of our Divines, who, studying his manner, but wanting his
genius, have uttered a flow of words, which sound not ill, but lack spirit and
matter. I have looked over whole pages of Bishop Blackal’s
Sermons, without finding any thing which offended the ear, or pleased the
imagination, or informed the understanding. I cannot help mentioning here
another Writer, who has gained great reputation for Stile, without deserving
any; I mean Dr. Sprat, Bishop of Rochester. His expression
is languishing and insipid, full of false pomp, full of affectation. He is
always aiming at harmony and wit, but succeeds ill; for his manner is starched
and pedantic. With much greater justice has the Stile of Dr. Atterbury, his successor, been admired.

Our Tongue is naturally cold, and the less force our
words have, the more they must be multiplied;
Edition: current; Page: [62]this multiplying of words is tedious; thence the
remedy is as bad as the disease. The Latin phrases, on the contrary, are short
and lively, and a few words convey many images. These difficulties, with many
others, I found in this Translation very sensibly. I wanted new words, but have
rarely coined any, as the creating of words is generally thought affected and
vain; yet I have sometimes ventured upon a new phrase, and a way of my own,
upon drawing the English idiom as near as possible to that of the Latin, and to
the genius of my Author; by leaving the beaten road, dropping particles,
transposing words, and sometimes beginning a sentence where it is usual to end
it. I have studied to imitate the spirit, eloquence and turns of Tacitus, as far as I could, assisted by a Language weak in its
sounds, and loose in its contexture. This manner of writing, I own, would be
strange and even ridiculous in plain and familiar subjects; but where the
subject is high and solemn, there must be a conformity of stile.

In the political Discourses following, I have likewise
taken a method of my own, in reasoning largely upon topics which to me seemed
of the most moment to this free Nation, and giving an idea of the politics of
the Cæsars; of the vis, artes, & instrumenta regni, as
they are called by Tacitus. I have vindicated the
principles of civil Liberty; I have examined the defences made for
Cæsar and Augustus; I have displayed
the genius of these Usurpers; the temper and debasement of the people; with the
conduct and tyranny of their successors, to the end of the Annals. In my Translation of the History
I have done the same. I have little troubled myself with the strife and guesses
of Commentators, and various Readings. I have chosen the best editions, and
where the meaning was dubious, taken the most probable; for,
Edition: current; Page: [63]after all, there is a good deal of guess-work and
uncertainty; difficulties not peculiar to Tacitus.

I was persuaded to this undertaking several years ago by a friend of mine, a
Gentleman of Letters in the City; for then I had never seen the English
Translation, and knew not but it was a good one. Mr. Trenchard approved the design with his usual zeal for every
thing which favoured public Liberty. My Lord Carteret, who
understands Tacitus perfectly, and admires him, was pleased
to think me not unfit for it, and gave me many just lights about the manner of
doing it; that particularly of allowing my self scope and freedom, without
which I am satisfied every Translation must be pedantic and cold. A Translation
ought to read like an Original. The Duke of Argyll espoused
it generously, with that frankness which is natural to him, agreeably to his
knowledge and taste of polite Learning, and to his sincere love of Liberty. So
did my Lord Townshend. Sir Robert
Walpole encouraged me in the pursuit of it in a manner eminently to my
credit; and to many Gentlemen of my acquaintance I am much obliged upon this
occasion. I own I have been long about this Translation; that I was so, is to
be ascribed not so much to idleness, as to diffidence. It was done a long while
before I put it to the press; after all my care and many revises, I continued
apprehensive that much fault might be found, and many objections made; a
misfortune which I still doubt I shall not be able to escape, and wish I may
not deserve. I therefore rely more on the candour of my Readers, than on my own
sufficiency. Those of them who understand Tacitus in the
original, will easily make allowances for the difficulty of making him speak
any other Language. I have been chiefly careful not to mistake the sentiments
of my Author about human Nature and Government;
Edition: current; Page: [64]and I will venture to say, that no man who has not
accustomed himself to think upon these two subjects, can ever make tolerable
sense of Tacitus, let him be as learned in other things as
he will. For the same reason, no man that is merely Learned, can ever be
pleased with a free Translation, however faithful and just; for his chief
attachment will ever be to Words and Criticism. Who had more Learning than Sir
H. Savill? ’tis plain he abounded beyond most men; but I
suppose Learning was his chief accomplishment; and thence his Translation is a
very poor one. The fault cannot be ascribed to the time; for at that time the
polite world wrote and spoke well; and if Sir Walter
Raleigh had then translated it, no body I believe would have ever
attempted to mend it.

DISCOURSE III.: Upon Cæsar the
Dictator.

Sect. I.: OfCæsar’sUsurpation, and why his Name is less
odious than that ofCatiline.

NOTHING has been hitherto found a sufficient check and barrier
to the exorbitant passions of men; neither kindness nor severity; nor mulcts nor pain; nor honour; nor
infamy; nor the terrors of death. A proof how far human malice or ambition is
an over-match for human wisdom; since Laws and Constitutions framed by the best
and wisest men, have, first or last, become the sport and conquest of the
worst, sometimes of the most foolish. Could wise Establishments have ensured
the stability of a State, that of Rome had
Edition: current; Page: [65]been immortal. Besides adopting all the best
Institutions of the free States of Greece,
a
her principal struggle and employment for some Centuries, was the
subduing of foreign enemies by Arms, and the securing of domestic Liberty by
wholsome Laws; and for Laws and Arms she was the wonder and the glory of the
earth. But she, whose force and policy no power could withstand, not that of
Greece nor of Carthage, nor of the World, fell by the corruption, and
perfidiousness, and violence of her own Citizens. The only sword that could
hurt her, was her own; with that she trusted Cæsar, and
that he turned unnaturally upon his own mother, and by it enslaved her.

Catiline’s conspiracy and crime every man detests; yet
Cæsar accomplished what Catiline only
intended. Had he better qualities than Catiline? he was so
much the worse, and able to do higher mischiefs. See how infatuation prevails!
the same men who abhor Catiline, admire Cæsar, who actually did more evil than ever the wicked heart of
Catiline had conceived. But Catiline
had no success, nor consequently flatterers. Had he succeeded, had he entailed
Rome upon his race, and such as would have been concerned to have guarded his
fame; there would not have been wanting flattering Poets and Historians to have
echoed his Praises and Genius divine, his Eloquence, Courage, Liberality and
Politics, and how much the degeneracy of Rome wanted such a Reformer, with
every other topic urged in defence of Cæsar. But
Catiline failed, and is owned to have been a Traitor.
Cæsar’s iniquity was triumphant, so was his name; and
after-ages have continued to reverence him by the force of habit, and of
superstition which swallows every thing, examines
Edition: current; Page: [66]nothing. When popular opinion has consecrated a man or
a name, all that man’s actions, however wicked or foolish, and every thing done
under that name, are sure to be consecrated too. The force of authority is
irresistible and infatuating, and reason and truth must yield to prejudice and
words.

Sect. II.: Of the publick Corruption byCæsarpromoted or introduced; with his bold
and wicked Conduct.

WAS the Commonwealth become disjointed and corrupt; as in truth
it was deeply and dangerously? who had contributed so much as Cæsar to that wicked work? From his first appearance in the
world he confederated with every public Incendiary, with every troubler of the
peace of the State, with every Traitor against his Country: insomuch that he
was divested of the dignity of Prætor by a solemn Decree of Senate: and when he
sollicited for the Consulship, his ambition and violent designs were so much
apprehended in that supreme Office
b
, that to check him with a proper Collegue, the Senators contributed a
great sum of money; nor did even Cato deny but that such
contribution, however against Law, was necessary then to save the State
c
.

He began that Office with violent acts of power; by
violence dispossessed his Collegue of all Share in the Administration; and,
during the whole term, he raised and pulled down, gave and took away by mere
will and power, whatsoever and whomsoever he would; terrified some, imprisoned
others; forged

Edition: current; Page: [67]

plots, suborned lying accusers, and then murdered them, and
trampled upon all Faith and Law.

To escape punishment for all these outrages, he
corrupted and bribed the people, to chuse his own creatures into the
Magistracy, or bribed the Magistrates after they were chosen. He went so far as
even to engage some of them, by oath and writing, never to call him to account,
nor suffer him to be called.

By the same wicked methods he obtained for his lot the
province of Gaul, and kept it for ten years, committing fresh treason every
day; making war of his own head, right or wrong, upon friend and foe; insomuch
that it was proposed in Senate to deliver him up to the enemy; but faction and
bribery saved him, and from the most extensive rapine he derived his power of
bribing. He feasted the people; he gave them largesses; he gained the Senators
by money, the soldiers by donatives; nay, the favourite servants and lowest
slaves of considerable men, were bribed by him. Every prodigal, every expensive
youth, every man indebted and desperate, every criminal, found in him a ready
support and protector; and when their expences, debts, and crimes, were so
excessive as to admit of no relief from him, to such he was wont to preach the
absolute necessity of a Civil War.

Nor did foreign Kings and Nations escape his court and
gifts; upon them he bestowed aids, and arms, and captives, all belonging to the
Roman people, and without their authority; thus to purchase foreign friendship
against a day of usurpation and need. To do all this he robbed the Provinces,
plundered Towns, pillaged Temples, even the Capitol he plundered, whence he
stole a vast quantity of gold, and placed so much gilt brass in the room of it,
and put whole Kingdoms and Provinces under contribution to his privy purse.

Edition: current; Page: [68]

How many thousand deaths did this man deserve, even
before he had committed his capital iniquity! It was he who thus principally
corrupted the State, and embroiled it, and unsettled it in all its parts.

He offered indeed to disband his forces, if
Pompey would do so too; but even this offer was giving law
to Rome. The Senate was to judge, and not Cæsar, what
armies were to be disbanded, what to be retained. Besides, even that proposal
was justly suspected to have been faithless and hollow; since, had he executed
the same, it had been easier for him to have re-assembled upon occasion his
veteran soldiers, than for Pompey his troops lately
levied.

Had there been no corruption in the State, such a man
was enough to introduce it. From his infancy he was thought to have meditated
the enslaving of his Country, and in order to enslave it, created corruption,
or improved it. To commit the blackest treason and iniquity that the malice of
man could devise, he stuck at no other, but by a Babel of crimes accomplished
the highest.

Sect. III.: Cæsarmight
have purified and reformed the State; but far different were his intentions.
His Art, good Sense, and continued ill Designs.

DID the State want reforming? why did not Cæsar reform and restore it? This would have been true glory,
the only true use of his absolute power, and the only amends for having assumed
it. The work too was practicable; the wisest and greatest men in Rome thought
it so, even after all the poison and depravity introduced by him.
Brutus, Cicero, and the Senate thought so; else he would
never have been put to Death by those who did it. If the State had been
Edition: current; Page: [69]deemed irretrievable, and an Usurper a necessary evil,
they could not have had a better than Cæsar. But they
judged otherwise, and for some time Liberty was actually restored. Why it
subsisted no longer, was owing to casualties and the faithlessness of
Octavius. No human wisdom can take in all incidents and
possibilities at one view; to see them by succession is often to see them too
late; and against what is not foreseen no remedy can be provided.
Cicero who swayed the Senate, in hatred to Anthony, trusted Octavius too much, and
raised him too high, and was by that false creature given up to the slaughter,
to satiate the vengeance of Anthony, to cement their late
union, and to begin the bloody Tragedy which they had meditated against their
Country and her Liberty, by the murder of so signal a Patriot. What followed
was horrible, continued massacres and the rage of the sword, the people armed
against one another, two thirds of them destroyed, and Augustus established Sovereign over the rest. He too thought it
possible to resettle the old free State, by proposing once or twice to resign;
however insincere he were, it was a confession that he thought it to be
practicable; and Drusus, his wife’s son, declared his own
purpose to effect it; nay, it was what Tiberius, after he
was Emperor, pretended to do.

Cæsar was said to have foretold the public Calamities
and Civil Wars to ensue: Why did he not prevent them? By his Dictatorial power
he might have removed what enormities, and made what regulations he would,
suppressed the insolence of particulars, revived the force of the Laws, and
reduced the Commonwealth to her first principles and firmness. Instead of this,
he continued, more and more, to break her remaining balance, to
Edition: current; Page: [70]weaken and debauch the people, and to destroy every
Law of Liberty.

Liberty and the Republic were a jest to Cæsar; he treated the very name with ridicule and contempt
d
; he punned upon Sylla for resigning his usurped
power. He had nothing in his head or heart but absolute rule, a Diadem, the
title of King, and controuling the world according to his lust
e
; nay, to have his very words go for Laws
f
; and as a proof that he meant to entail all this pompous Dominion upon
his Race, he had a Law ready to be proposed for a privilege of taking as many
Wives as he thought fit, and of what quality and condition he thought fit. His
acts of Tyranny were indeed so many, so high and insupportable, that even his
dear friends the populace, notwithstanding all his bounties, his feasts and
shews, and all his other arts to sooth and debauch them, grew sullen and
discontented; they declaimed against such usurpation, in their houses and in
the Forum; they called aloud for avengers, and gave him public affronts.

By the Laws of Rome the Dominion of one, and
consequently the dominion of Cæsar, was detestable and
accursed, and any man was warranted to slay the Tyrant
g
: Nor was there any valid reason against killing Cæsar, but that somewhat as bad or worse was to follow. Now the
best and ablest Romans judged otherwise, as I have shewn; and who was better
qualified to judge? As to Cæsar’s prophecy of worse times,
it was deciding
Edition: current; Page: [71]in his own favour, and not to be credited; and there
was policy in it as well as vanity.

The accomplishments of Cæsar, the
mildness of his administration, and mercy to his enemies, have been much
magnified. It is certain he had exquisite abilities and address; but how did he
apply them? Was it not to be the Master of mankind? and was not this, interest
and self-love? What could be more interested, what more selfish, than to take
the world to himself? Cæsar had good sense and experience;
he knew that particular acts of cruelty and revenge were odious, even more
odious than the slaughter of thousands, under the title of war and conquest,
however unprovoked and unjust: So much more quarter from the world has ambition
than cruelty, though the former is often the more mischievous passion. He knew,
that, while general acts of blood would pass for Heroism, fit to be
distinguished with praise and laurels, a particular life, taken away in anger,
would pass for barbarity. Such fallacy is there in sounds, and in the
imaginations of men! We judge not of evil by its quantity, the true medium of
judging, but by its name, and the quality of the doer or sufferer; hence the
foolish causes of popularity without merit and innocence. Acts of rage, the
execution of particulars, and a vindictive Reign, would have diminished the
Hero, and tarnished his fame, as much as his generosity to enemies, his noble
contempt of fear and offenders, blazoned his glory, and begot admirers.

Sect. IV.: The probability of his waxing more
cruel, had he reigned much longer.

THE generous, the forgiving temper of Cæsar,
was no sure warrant, that he would not have broke out into personal cruelties;
for, of his public cruelty, Rome and the world were the theatre and
Edition: current; Page: [72]the witnesses: He must have acted agreeably to the
necessities and jealousy of power, broken those necks which would not bend, and
destroyed such as he could not but constantly fear. I own there came after him
some Emperors who reigned without many acts of blood; but the sovereignty was
then thoroughly established, and they had no high spirits to fear, bred in the
notions and possession of Liberty, as were all the Romans in his time. Nor,
even after servitude had been begun, and for some time suffered under
Cæsar, could the second Triumvirate think themselves
secure, till they had destroyed at once by Proscription a whole army of
illustrious Romans, such as they conceived would oppose and even extirpate
their domination. Nor did this tragical precaution and general barbarity, put
an end to barbarity in particular instances; Augustus, for
the first years of his Reign, was making almost daily sacrifices of noble blood
to his fears and safety.

Power of it self makes men wanton, distrustful and
cruel; Cæsar lived not long enough in purple to shew what
he would prove; five months were but a short term for trial
h
. It would be rash to assert, that he who had shed the blood of Nations
and Armies, without provocation, without authority; he who had violated Liberty
and Law, and put chains upon his Country, and the race of men, would have
spared particular lives, when from particular lives he came to apprehend danger
and revolt. He that could be piqued even to folly and ridicule, because
Aquila the Tribune did not rise as he passed by; he who
could not put up this, nor forget it, nor cease mentioning it upon every
occasion for a long while after, nor even forbear scolding at it, must have
been capable of carrying his resentment
Edition: current; Page: [73]very far, as well as of sudden anger; nay, been full
of capricious and childish humours. How far such humours, and vanity, and anger
might have carried him, he lived not to shew. But he had amply shewn, that his
Ambition was dearer to him than Rome and the whole earth, and to this private
passion of his, every public regard had yielded; the genuine mark this of a
Tyrant, who rules the State for his own sake, and, rather than not rule it,
enthralls it! Cæsar, who had committed all wickedness to
gain power, would have committed more to have kept it, as soon as he found more
to be necessary
i
.

What avails the fair behaviour of one who may do what he
pleases? What avail his fair promises, which he may break when he pleases? The
worst of the Roman Emperors began their Reigns well, many of them excellently
well; as Nero, Claudius, Caligula, Domitiank
; some of them reigned well for some years. Cæsar
was generous, magnificent, and humane to affectation, but
l
every passion, every sentiment must yield to the ardent lust of
reigning. Had it not been for his great and acceptable qualities, he could not
have introduced public bondage; the Hero, the Orator, and the fine Gentleman,
hid the Usurper, and palliated at least the Usurpation.

Let any man consider Cæsar as a
Subject of the State, altogether private; one who never bore Office or
Authority; as a Physician, a Scribe or an Artist, or as one just started out of
obscurity, or come from another Country; and then ask himself, What has this
man, this private unknown man, to
Edition: current; Page: [74]do with governing all men against Laws established by
all? His being once Consul, his commanding of Armies, and appearing in a great
public light; gave him no more right to do what he did, than the quality of an
Artist, a Scribe, Physician, Upstart, or stranger, would have given him. Public trusts betrayed were
aggravations of his crime, horrible aggravations! so were his excellent parts
impiously applied.

Sect. V.: Cæsarno
lawful Magistrate, but a public Enemy.

OF Cæsar, his Usurpation and Death, I have
reasoned largely elsewhere
m
, and shall here abridge part of that reasoning. “He had no sort of
Title, but success, gained by violence and all wicked means. The acquiring and
exercising of Power by force is Tyranny, nor is success any proof of right. If
the person of Cæsar was sacred, so is the person of every
Usurper and Tyrant; and if all the privileges and impunity belonging to a
lawful Magistrate, do also appertain to a lawless Intruder and public
Oppressor, then all these blessed consequences follow: There is an utter end of
all right and wrong, public and private; every Usurper is a lawful Magistrate;
every Magistrate may be a lawless Tyrant; It is unlawful to resist the greatest
human evil; the necessary means of self-preservation are unlawful: Though it be
lawful and expedient to destroy little Robbers, who are so for subsistence, it
is impious and unlawful to oppose great Robbers, who destroy nations out of
lust and ambition. Public mischief is defended by giving it a good name, since
Tyranny may be practised with
Edition: current; Page: [75]impunity, if it be but called Magistracy; and the
execrable Authors of it are sacred, if they but call themselves Magistrates;
Though it be unlawful to be a public destroyer, yet it is unlawful to destroy
him, and to prevent or punish that which is most impious and unlawful. In fine,
any man who has wickedness and force enough to destroy or enslave the whole
world, may do it, and be safe.

“If Cæsar was a lawful Magistrate, every powerful
villain may make himself one, and lawful Magistrates may become such by mere
force and iniquity. But if lawful Magistracy be not acquired by violence and
butchery, Cæsar was none: if he was not, how came he by the
rights and impunity of such?

“Against lawless force every man has a right to use
force. Cæsar had no more right than Alarick,
Attila, or Brennus, who were foreign Invaders; his
crime? was greater, as, to that of usurpation, he added those of ingratitude
and treachery. It is owned that when he first made war upon his Country, his
Country had a right to make war upon him; How came that right to cease, when he
had heightened that iniquity by success? Is it lawful to resist a Robber before
he has robbed you, but not after? Is a wickedness lessened by aggravations?
Cæsar had forfeited his life by all the Laws of Rome; was
it not as lawful to take it away by thirty men as by thirty thousand; in the
Senate as in the field?

“A private man in society, even capitally injured, must not be his own
judge, but leave revenge to the more impartial Law; but a capital offender
against all, who sets himself above Law and Judgment, is a public enemy; and
violence is the proper remedy for violence, when
Edition: current; Page: [76]no other is left. In a State of Nature, every man has
a right to vindicate himself; when Society is dissolved, the same right
returns. Men can never be deprived of both public protection and private
defence.

“Cæsar had violated every tye that can bind the human
soul; Oaths, Trust, and Law; he had violated every thing dear to human kind,
their Peace, Liberty, Rights and Possessions: He did all this by means the most
black and flagitious; by Plots, Faction, Corruption, Robbery, Devastation,
Sacrilege, and Slaughter.

“What was lest to the oppressed Romans to do, under the
bonds of the Oppressor with his sword at their throat? Law and Appeals were no
more; a Tyrant was their Master; the Will of a Tyrant their Law. Because he had
slaughtered and destroyed one half of the people, had he thence a right to
govern the rest? There was no public force to oppose him; he had destroyed many
of the Armies of the State, and appropriated the rest to himself against the
State; it would have been madness to have thought of judicial process. In
short, there was no other way of abolishing his Tyranny, but by dispatching the
Tyrant.

Sect. VI.: Of the share which Casualties
had, in raising the Name and Memory ofCæsar.The Judgment ofCiceroconcerning him.

PEOPLE suffer their own imaginations to abuse and mislead them.
The sound of Cæsar’s Name; the superstitious reverence paid
to it, his great employments, great victories, and even his great usurpation,
are all pompous images that dazzle the eyes, and give a false lustre to the
Edition: current; Page: [77]blackest iniquity and imposture. Nay, it proved an
advantage to the fame and defence of Cæsar, that he was
assassinated. Hence so much popular pity and lamentation for him; hence so much
rage and obloquy upon the Tyrannicides. A violent death or violent sufferings,
often pass for great merit, often atone for great crimes; and in the compassion
for the doom of criminals the abhorrence of their villainies is often
extinguished; malefactors the most barbarous, who never shewed any mercy in
their lives, are bewailed at their execution, only because they are
executed.

There were circumstances also in his Death favourable to
his fame; he died with decency and a manly spirit, and he fell by the hands of
his friends. These circumstances, and his bloody shirt displayed to a mob, with
an artful melting speech from Anthony, inflamed them with
sorrow and fury; two gross passions which do not reason but feel. The same
topics have ever since furnished undiscerning Declaimers with big words and
vehemence, in behalf of so fine a man, slain for no fault but that of
Usurpation and Tyranny; a small crime, that of being the enemy of human
kind!

As to the glory and prosperous fortune of this mighty
Conqueror, Cicero says, with great truth, “that Felicity is
nothing else but good fortune assisting righteous Counsels; nor can he whose
purposes are not upright, be, from any success, esteemed in any-wise happy.
Hence it is, that from the impious and abandoned pursuits of Cæsar, no true felicity could flow: happier, in my judgment,
was Camillus under exile from his Country, than
Manlius his co-temporary had been, though he had acquired
over his Country that Tyranny which he lusted after
n
.” The
Edition: current; Page: [78]same wise man says elsewhere, “that he would have
preferred the last day of Antonius the Orator, tragical as
it was, to the usurped rule of Cinna, by whom that worthy
Roman was barbarously murdered.” I cannot admire Cæsar’s
ambition; he would rather have been Lord of a poor Village, than the second man
in Rome. To me it appears more glory to be the Member of a free State,
especially of the greatest State upon earth, than a Lord of Slaves, the biggest
Lord.

Sect. VII.: How vain it is to extol any Designs
of his for the Glory of the Roman people.

IT is said, that Cæsar was meditating great
and glorious things for the Roman people, when he was cut off. He might indeed
have gathered empty Laurels for himself by more wars at the expence of the
people; but how this would have redounded to their advantage, I cannot see. I
can easily see, that all the future strength he could have acquired, must have
been acquired to himself, and over them; and every accession of power must, by
raising his Tyranny higher, have sunk them lower, and streightened their
chains. He wanted to fight the Parthians, but first he wanted to be King; and
for this purpose a Prophecy was forged, that none but a King could conquer
them. Was this impudent forgery too, and the design of it, for the glory of the
people who were abused by it? In short, he could have done nothing beneficial
or glorious for the Roman people, but to have restored them to their ancient
and substantial glory, that of their Liberty and Laws. This too would have been
the highest glory of his own life, which, to those who consider things as they
are, stripped of foolish fair names and disguises, is, without this, all over
black and infamous.

Edition: current; Page: [79]

No man’s life can be said to be detestable, if his was
not; seeing all the malefactors condemned since there were men and crimes, did
not half the mischief which he did. It was even currently believed (and what
worse could be believed of him than he had done?) that he meant to translate
the seat of Empire, with all its strength, to Ilium, or to Alexandria; and
having exhausted all Italy by great levies, (that she might never recover
herself) he would have begun, probably, a new sort of Sovereignty upon his own
model, exempt from the names and appearances of the old Constitution and Laws,
which still had reverence paid them at Rome, and consequently were so many
grievances to him. Rome he intended to have left to the dominion of his
creatures. It is probable he thought himself not safe at Rome, nor in any place
which had ever known the governance of Laws, nor any where but at the head of
Armies. He had reason for his fear; the severest oppressor can never tye the
hands of all the oppressed, nor put chains upon their resentments.

Sect. VIII.: Of his Death; and the rashness of
ascribing to divine Vengeance the fate of such as slew him.

IN the midst of his farther designs, whatever they were, a
bloody doom overtook this man of blood, and he was lawfully slain, though not
by the forms of Law
o
; his lawless power had made this impossible. It is true, they who slew
him, were themselves slain. The righteousness of a cause does not always ensure
its success; too seldom, God knows; but they who perish in defence of the Laws,
are slain against Law. Such was the difference between his death and theirs.
They were vanquished and slain
Edition: current; Page: [80]in a great Civil War, at a time when Courage, and
Virtue, and Patriotism were capital and proscribed.

Did none of those who destroyed Cæsar die a natural death? no more did Cæsar, who destroyed the State. If this was not a judgment upon
him, why should theirs be one upon them? What rule have we to know a judgment,
but from the justice or iniquity of a cause? If so, Cesar
fell by the appointment of Heaven; Brutus and his brethren
by the malice of Men. But if there be no rule, or if judgments, like parties,
take different sides; how dare we pronounce? How many of the Cæsars his
successors died naturally? Not one, if we will believe the Historians and
probability, from Cæsar the Dictator to the Emperor
Vespasian. Augustus was poisoned by Livia his wife; Tiberius smothered by
Macro his favourite, to make way for Caligula, who was slain with the sword by the officers of his
guard. Agrippina poisoned her husband Claudius; Nero stabbed himself; Galba was
murdered by the soldiers, so was Vitellius. Otho fell by
his own hands.

Edition: current; Page: [81]

DISCOURSE IV.: Upon Octavius Cæsar,
afterwards called Augustus.

Sect. I.: Of the base and impious Arts by which
he acquired the Empire.

BY the death of the Usurper, Liberty was restored, but lasted
not
a
; and Octavius succeeded Cæsar,
by no superior genius, by no military prowess or magnanimity; for tricking and
deceit constituted his chief parts, and though he was bold in council, he was a
coward in the field. But he usurped the Empire by methods so low and vile, as
brought disgrace even upon Usurpation; by a thousand frauds, and turns suddenly
made, without the common appearances of decency or shame; by thousands of
murders deliberately committed, without process or provocation; by multiplied
treacheries, assassinations, and acts of ingratitude; by employing ruffians,
and being himself one; and by destructive wars conducted by the bravery of
others.

He levied forces without authority; and, under a lying
pretence of defending Liberty, got to be employed by the State against
Anthony. He then robbed the Commonwealth of her Armies; and
was thought to have murdered both her chief Magistrates, the Consuls
Hirtius and Pansa; the former by his
own hand in the hurry of battle, the other after it, by causing poison to be
poured
Edition: current; Page: [82]into his wound by Glyco his
Physician. It is certain, that the Physician was suspected, seized, and even
doomed to the torture, but saved by the credit of his master Octavius; whose villainy had these farther aggravations, that
he was generally believed to have been a Pathic to Hirtius
for hire; and Pansa had ever a tender regard for him, a
regard superior to that which he owed his Country, as he manifested by the
advice which he gave him before he expired under agonies caused by the
hard-hearted contrivance of that his beloved and perfidious friend.

With this very Army of the Commonwealth he turned head
upon the Commonwealth, marched in an hostile manner to Rome, and sent a
deputation of Officers to his Masters the Senate, to demand the Consulship in
the name of the Legions: and, upon some hesitation shewn by that venerable
Body, one of these armed Embassadors laid his hand upon his sword, and told
them, “If you will not make him Consul, this shall.” For his first credit with
the Senate he was beholden to Cicero, at whose suit he was
trusted with command in conjunction with the Consuls, and dignified with the
title of Proprætor. We see how he requited the Senate, we see how he served the
Consuls; and Cicero his father in Counsel, and the father
of the Republic, he delivered up to be murdered and mangled by his implacable
enemy.

Sect. II.: Of the vindictive spirit ofOctavius,and his horrid
Cruelties.

IN the Battle of Philippi, Octavius was
beaten out of the field, his Camp seized, and, but for the fortune and valour
of Anthony, the day must have been lost. After the victory
he shewed
Edition: current; Page: [83]as much insolence and cruelty, as he had wanted
courage in it. He could not forbear manifesting cowardly spite to the dead body
of Brutus, before whom he had a little before fled for his
life, and sent the head of that excellent person to Rome, to be laid
ignominiously at the feet of the Statue of Cæsar. Different
was the treatment shewn by Anthony, who had saved
Octavius, and beat Brutus. Anthony
beheld his Corpse with grief and tears, covered it with his own armour, and
treated it with respect and tenderness. Octavius had not
greatness of heart enough for such generous humanity; but treated every
illustrious captive with bitter words and cowardly insults, and put them to
death without mercy
b
; says Suetonius. To one of these, imploring the
privilege of burial, the base Tyrant answered, “That the fowls of the air would
soon regulate that matter.” When a father begged mercy for his son, and the son
for the father, the merciful Octavius commanded the father
and son to fight for the survivorship. This barbarous fight he beheld, beheld
the son slay his father, and then himself for having done it. Had not the
remaining Prisoners reason, when they were brought before Anthony and him, to salute the former with the honourable title
of Imperator, and the latter with invectives and
contempt?

With the same cruel spirit he behaved himself after the
siege of Perusia. All who applied to him, whether they pleaded innocence, or
begged mercy, had one and the same merciless answer
c
, “Death is the lot of you all;” and they had it. Three hundred of the
chief, comprizing their Nobility and
Edition: current; Page: [84]Magistrates, were carried in chains to an Altar raised
to Julius Cæsar, and there butchered like cattle, as
victims to his ghost, upon the Ides of March, the Anniversary of his
Assassination. The City itself he delivered to the lust and plunder of his
soldiers, contrary to articles, and his faith given. Never was a more tragical
and horrible scene. After killing, robbing and ravishing, what the sword could
not destroy, the fire did; and that great and beautiful City, one of the
fairest in Italy, was reduced to ashes. There were Historians, who asserted,
that the quarrel between him and Lucius Antonius, who had
shut himself up in that City, was all feigned, and a contrivance between them,
for two reasons; first, to try who were real friends, and who were covered
enemies; and then, by the conquest and confiscation of such, to find a fund for
paying the Veterans their promised largess.

From the citizens of Nursia he took all that they had,
their substance and even their city, and sent them forth to wander and starve;
for no other crime but that, for their fellow citizens, slain at the siege of
Modena, they had raised a Monument with an Inscription, “that they died for the
public liberty;” though he had but just before fought and declared for the same
side.

It is impossible to paint the horrors of the
Proscription; by it every considerable man in the Roman world, who was
disliked, or suspected by the Triumvirate to disapprove their Tyranny, was
doomed to die; it was death to conceal or to help them, and rewards were given
to such as discovered and killed them. Many were betrayed and butchered by
their slaves and freedmen; many by their treacherous hosts and relations; and
many fled with their wives and tender children to the howling wilderness, and
lived or perished amongst woods and wolves. Nothing was to be seen but blood
and
Edition: current; Page: [85]slaughter; the streets ware covered with carcasses;
the heads of the illustrious dead were exposed upon the Rostra, and their
bodies upon the pavement, denied the mercy of burial, other than such as they
found in the entrails of devouring dogs and ravenous birds. This looked like
dooming Rome to perish at once; and when the other two were satiated with so
many butcheries, Octavius, who never had blood enough,
still persisted to shed more. No sort of men escape his cruelty, nor Nobles,
nor Knights, strangers nor acquaintance, nay, nor his confidents, and favourite
freedmen; nor even his old companion and tutor, Toranius,
no one knows why, unless for being an honest man, and a lover of his
Country.

These victims continued daily for a course of years; the
slightest suspicions, the vilest forgeries, were grounds for slaughters, for
illustrious slaughters. Nor could the great quality and venerable station of
Quintus Gellius the Prætor, nor his innocence, exempt him
from the bloody hands of the executioner; nor was execution the worst part of
his doom; he was by a band of soldiers seized in his seat of justice, hurried
away and subjected to the torture, like the meanest slave; but confessed
nothing. Nor did all this injustice and barbarity satisfy the gentle
Augustus, so much renowned for moderation and clemency; he
had the brutal baseness to dig out the eyes of that Magistrate with his own
hands, before he allowed him the mercy of being murdered outright. One of his
favourite Ministers shewed his sentiments of the clemency of Augustus plainly enough, upon the following occasion. That
Prince was judging some criminals, and giving himself over to revenge, and
bloody decrees, without check or compassion, when the Minister, who abhorred to
see him engaged in such feats of cruelty,
Edition: current; Page: [86]sent him a note, told him, “he was a butcher,” and bad
him “come down from his Tribunal.”

Sect. III.: Of the treachery, ingratitude,
and further cruelties ofOctavius.That the same were wanton and voluntary.

THE conduct of Octavius in regard to
Anthony, was, like the rest of his conduct, all one train
of perfidiousness. First he made court to Anthony, then
suborned rogues to murder him; then made war upon him with the arms of the
State; then joined with him against the State; then by the bravery of
Anthony he conquered the Empire, and then by plots, and the
valour of Agrippa, he conquered Anthony; then he was devising ways to destroy Agrippa, and, but for an expedient offered by Mæcenas, had destroyed him.

Was it strange that against such a Prince conspiracies
were frequent? As he was an Usurper he could not escape some; his falshood and
cruelties begot others; and, from considerations public as well as personal,
there was abundant cause for many. To punish one plot with exceeding violence,
is a sure way to produce more; and, when there is no safety found in innocence,
further methods will be tried.

It is a poor defence for Augustus,
to say, that it was from necessity, and to serve himself, that he shed so much
blood; for, besides that his cruelty was natural, wanton and unnecessary, why
did he seek to be in a station where acts of blood were necessary? why did he
usurp the state? why did he make himself a mark for public and private
vengeance? was it not by ambition, was it not by treachery, that he assumed
Sovereignty? was he not
Edition: current; Page: [87]a public Traitor? and was it not his choice to be so?
why did he wilfully commit crimes so flagitious, that in their defence he must
commit more? Can one horrible iniquity efface another? Is a subject justified,
who, because he has deserved the pains of treason, raises a rebellion against
his Prince, nay, kills him, to be safe? No villainy ever was, or ever can be
perpetrated, which such reasoning will not justify.

When some were bold and honest enough to talk to
Oliver Cromwel about his excesses and usurpation, he asked
them, What would you have one in my station do? He was well answered:
Sir, We would have no body in your station. To vindicate
murder from the necessity of committing it, in order to conceal robbery; is to
argue like a murderer and a robber; but it is honest Logic, to reply; “Do not
rob, and then you need not be tempted to murder; but if you will do one, and
consequently both, remember that punishment does or ought to follow crimes, and
the more crimes the more punishment. If, by a repetition of crimes, you become
too mighty to be punished, you must be content to be accursed and abhorred as
an enemy to human race; you must expect to have all men for your enemies, as
you are an enemy to all men; and since you make sport of the lives and
liberties of men, you must not wonder, nor have you a right to complain, if
they have all of them memories and feeling, and some of them courage and
swords.”

Edition: current; Page: [88]

Sect. IV.: Of the popular Arts and Accidents
which raised the Character ofAugustus.

MANY things concurred to favour the same of Augustus, and to obliterate his reproach. He reigned very long,
and established a lasting peace; a special blessing and refreshment after a
Civil War so long and ruinous
d
. For, though that war was the child of his ambition, yet, in a series
of ensuing tranquillity, it was forgot. Nay, the greatness of the public
calamities was a reason for forgetting them; the generation who felt them, were
almost all cut off by them; and the next generation, which had not suffered,
did not remember
e
: what the people had not seen, they did not lament. When he died there
were scarce any living who had beheld the old free State
f
. The people too were deceived into a belief that they still enjoyed
their old Government, because their Magistrates had still their old names,
though with just as much power as he thought fit to leave them. This was the
advice of Mæcenas, that to the Officers of the State, the
same names, pomp and ornaments should be continued, with all the appearances of
authority without power
g
. They were to have no military command during their term, but to
possess the old jurisdiction of adjudging all causes finally, except such as
were capital; and though some of these last were left to the Governor of Rome,
an Officer newly created by the Emperor, yet the chief were reserved.

Edition: current; Page: [89]

Moreover Augustus paid great court to the people: the
very Name that covered his Usurpation was a compliment to them: he affected to
call it the Power of the Tribuneship, an Office first created purely for their
protection, and as the strongest effort and barrier of popular Liberty. It was
for their sake and security, he pretended to assume this power, though by it he
acted as absolutely as if he had called it the Dictatorial power; such energy
there is in words! The Office itself was erected as a bulwark against Tyranny;
and by the name of it Tyranny is now supported. In the same manner he used and
perverted the Consulship; another Magistracy peculiar to the Commonwealth, but
by him abused to the ends of his Monarchy.

He likewise won the hearts of the people by filling
their bellies, by cheapness of provisions, and plentiful markets. This has
infinite effect. If people have plenty at home, they will not be apt to
discover many errors or much iniquity in the public, which will always be at
quiet when particulars are so. But famine, or the fear of it, children crying
for bread, mothers weeping for their children, and husbands and fathers unable
to stop their tears, and find the necessaries of life for themselves, and such
dear relations; all these are terrible materials for tumults, sedition, and
even for revolutions. But people in ease and plenty are under no temptation to
be inquiring into the title of their Prince, or to resent acts of power which
they do not immediately feel.

He frequently entertained them with Shews and
Spectacles; a notable means to produce or continue good humour in the populace,
to beget kind wishes and zeal for the author of so much joy, and to make them
forget Usurpation, Slavery, and every public evil. These were indeed used for
the ends of corruption and servitude; they rendred the people idle,
Edition: current; Page: [90]venal, vicious, insensible of private virtue,
insensible of public glory or disgrace; but the things were liked, and the ends
not seen, or not minded, so that they had their thorough effect; and the Roman
people, they who were wont to direct mighty wars, to raise and depose great
Kings, to bestow or take away Empires, they who ruled the world, or directed
its rule, were so sunk and debauched, that if they had but bread and shews,
their ambition went no higher.

By the same arts Cardinal Mazarin
began to soften and debase the minds of the French; and after his death the
like methods for promoting of idleness and luxury were pursued; shews,
debauchery, wantonness and riot were encouraged and became common; and after
the Restoration, England adopted the modes of France, her worst modes. There
were some, too many, who, unworthy, of their own happiness and Liberty, came to
admire her Government and misfortune; and laboured, with the spirit of
Parricides, though without their punishment, to bring ours to the model of
that.

I cannot omit observing here, that by the same means that Cæsar and Augustus acquired the Empire,
they destroyed its force. In the Civil Wars great part of the people perished,
and the rest they debauched. They had utterly drained or corrupted that source
of men which furnished soldiers who conquered the earth; henceforth the
plebs ingenua became a mere mob, addicted to idleness and
their bellies, void of courage, void of ambition, and careless of renown.
Armies were with difficulty raised amongst them; when raised, not good, or apt
to corrupt the rest. It was such who excited the sedition in the German
Legions, after the death of Augustush
:
Edition: current; Page: [91]“the recruits lately raised in Rome, men accustomed to
the softness and gaieties of the City, and impatient of military labour and
discipline, inflamed the simple minds of all the rest by seditious infusions,
and harangues, &c.” Indeed the Roman Armies (so
chiefly in name) were mostly composed of foreigners.

To engage new creatures and dependencies, he created
many new Offices; as the multitude of Offices in France is reckoned a great
support of the Authority Royal. He raised many public buildings, repaired many
old, and to the City added many edifices and ornaments. He attended business,
reformed enormities, shewed high regard for the Roman name; was sparing in
admitting foreigners to the rights of Citizens; preserved public peace;
procured public abundance, promoted public pleasure and festivity; often
appeared in person at the public diversions, and in all things studied to
render himself dear to the populace. In truth, when he had done all the
mischief he could, or all that he wanted, and more, he ceased his cruelty and
ravages. This too was imputed to him for merit. He was reckoned very good,
because he began to do less mischief. It was a rational saying of that madman
Caligula, “that calamitous and tragical to the Roman people
were the boasted Victories of his great grandfather Augustus;” and therefore he forbad them to be solemnized
annually for the future.

Edition: current; Page: [92]

Sect. V.: ThoughAugustuscourted the people, and particular
Senators, he continued to depress public Liberty, and the Senate.

BUT, amidst all these acts of popularity and beneficence, and
this plausible behaviour of Augustus, the root of the evil
remained and spread; the bulwarks of Liberty were daily broken down, and having
lulled the public asleep, he was sowing his tares. The best of his Government
was but the sunshine of Tyranny
k
. Augustus was become the centre and measure of all
things; he was the Senate, Magistracy and Laws; the arms of the Republic he had
wrested out of her hands; those who had wielded them for her, he had slain
l
. The armies of the State were now the armies of Augustus, and every Province where Legions were kept or
necessary, he reserved to himself; such as were unarmed he left to the Senate
and people; in kindness forsooth to them; for he studied to relieve them from
all anxiety and fatigue, and to leave them nothing to do; but would take all
the care and trouble to himself. Italy, the original soil of Liberty and
Freemen, he utterly disarmed, agreeably to the Maxims of absolute Monarchy. The
Roman people and the Roman Senate he had reduced to cyphers and carcasses
m
. Hence all the submission and duty formerly paid to the free State,
were, with her power, transferred to the Emperor, and certain wealth and
Edition: current; Page: [93]preferment were the rewards of ready servility and
acquiescence
n
.

This shews that, however he depressed the power of the
Senate, he paid great court to particular Senators; and it is too true, that as
men generally love themselves better than their Country, they too easily
postpone the public interest to their own.
o

Sect. VI.: What Fame he derived from the Poets
and other flattering Writers of his time.

THE Renown of Augustus was also notably
blazoned by the Historians and Poets of his time; men of excellent wit, but
egregious flatterers. According to them, Augustus had all
the accomplishments to be acquired by men, the magnanimity of Heroes, the
perfections and genius of the Deity, and the innocence peculiar to the
primitive race of men. After so many instances of his cruelty, revenge,
selfishness, excessive superstition, and defect in courage; after all the
crying calamities and afflictions, all the oppression and vassalage, that his
ambition had brought upon his Country and the globe, one would think that such
praises must have passed for satire and mockery. But ambition, successful
ambition, is a credulous passion; or whether he believed such praises or no, he
received them graciously, and caressed the Authors. Hence so much favour to
Virgil and Horace, and to such other
wits as knew how to be good Courtiers; and hence every admirer of those
charming Poets, is an admirer of Augustus, who was so
generous
Edition: current; Page: [94]to them, and is the chief burden of their
Panegyrics.

Suppose he had miscarried; suppose the Commonwealth
restored, and him punished as a Traitor instead of gaining the Sovereignty;
would not the Historians, would not the Poe tshave then spoke as the Law spoke,
that Law by which he had certainly forfeited his life? would not Brutus and Cassius have then filled their
mouths with Panegyrics, as the Saviours of the State? would they have lamented
that the Usurpation failed, and extolled the Usurper? Is Catiline extolled, or are the Usurpations of Cinna, Sylla, or Marius? nor was the
conduct and domination of either, half so barbarous and tragical as was that of
Augustus for a course of years. The truth is, their Tyranny
was shortlived, unsuccessful, or resigned.

Iniquity unprosperous or punished, no man praises; but
wickedness exceeding great and triumphant, almost all men do, as well as decry
virtuous attempts defeated. Cæsar and Augustus succeeded; and their flattery continued, because their
government and race did;
p
Sycophancy is ever a constant attendant upon greatness, says
Paterculus, who was himself a scandalous flatterer, and has
in his History, miserably perverted truth, or utterly suppressed it, that he
might lye for the Cæsars. When Truth was treason, who would venture to speak
it? and when Flattery bore a vogue and a price, there were enough found to
court it, and take it. Hence the partiality or silence of Poets and Historians
q
.

Edition: current; Page: [95]

Sect. VII.: Of the false Glory sought and
acquired byAugustus,from the badness
of his Successors.

ANOTHER signal advantage to the name and memory of
Augustus, was the badness of his Successors; and for his
posthumous lustre he was indebted to the extreme misery of the Roman people. In
proportion as Tiberius, Caligula,&c. were detested, Augustus was
regretted; yet who but Augustus was to be thanked for these
monsters of cruelty? They were legacies by him entailed upon that great State,
and he was even suspected to have surrendered the Roman people to the Tyranny
of Tiberius, purely to enhance his own praise with
posterity, by the comparison and opposition of their Reigns
r
. He sought renown from a counsel for which he deserved abhorrence. He
had made a feint or two to abdicate the Sovereignty; had he been in earnest, he
might at least have contrived, that his Usurpation should last no longer than
his life, and have left for a legacy to the Roman people that Liberty of which
he had robbed them; that dominion over themselves, which none but themselves
had any right to exercise. The truth is, his power and name were dearer to him
than the Roman people or human race; he made provision by a long train of
successors against any possible relapse into Liberty
s
. When he had no longer any heir of his own blood, or none that he
liked, he adopted the sons of his wife; and even the worst of them was destined
to the succession
t
.

Edition: current; Page: [96]

If it be said that by such adoption he fortified himself, and
considered heirs as
u
the stays and security of his domination; this still shews what was
uppermost in his views, that he meant to perpetuate slavery. If he had studied
the good of Rome, why was not Tiberius, whom he knew to be
tyrannical and arrogant, postponed? why was not his brother Drusus, the most accomplished and popular man in the Empire,
preferred? or (after his death) Germanicus his son, one
equally deserving, and equally beloved? It is even said that he loved
Drusus, loved Germanicus, and was
suspected to have hated and despised Tiberius; yet
Tiberius was preferred, and had the world bequeathed to
him. Was it done to please his wife? then he loved her better than the Roman
people, nay, preferred her caprice to the felicity of human kind.
Drusus had declared his purpose to restore the
Commonwealth; the same intention is supposed to have been in Germanicus. This perhaps was the reason for setting them aside
w
; as was said of Tiberius.

Sect. VIII.: The Character ofAugustus.

AS to the Character of Augustus, he was a
man of Sense and Art; his courage below his capacity, his capacity below his
fortune, yet his fortune below his fame; because his fame was the child of able
flattery as well as of propitious fortune. He was a cunning man, not a great
genius; dextrous to apply the abilities of others to his own ends, and had
ability enough to be counselled by such as had more; his designs were rather
incidental and progressive,
Edition: current; Page: [97]than vast and conceived at once; and he cannot be said
to have mastered fortune, but to have been led by it. In the times of the
Republic he would have made but a middling figure; in the station and pursuits
of Julius Cæsar, none at all. It is not in the least likely
that he would have thought or attempted what Cæsar
accomplished. He wanted Cæsar’s masterly spirit, the eclat
of that consummate Warrior, his boundless Liberality, his enchanting Eloquence.
For the Eloquence of Augustus, which was easy and flowing,
such as became a Prince, was quite different from that torrent of Language, and
power of speaking necessary to agitate and controul the spirit of Republicans,
and came far short of the talent of Julius, who stood in
rank with the most distinguished Orators. I know not whether the vices of the
Dictator had not more popular charms than the virtues of Augustus. Cæsar made his way to the Throne, Augustus found it already made, or, where difficulties
occurred, was conducted by the superior lights and force of others, whom he
rewarded with all the meanness of ingratitude, and even cruelty, and did many
things which the great heart of Cæsar would have scorned.
No great mind ever delighted in petty mischiefs; though to do mighty evil an
elevated genius is not always necessary.

Sect. IX.: Of the Helps and Causes which
acquired and preserved the Empire toAugustus.His great Power and Fortune no proof of extraordinary
Ability.

THAT Augustus acquired the Empire, is not a
proof of talents grand and surprizing; a thousand things concurred to it, times
and accidents, friends and enemies, the living and the dead,
Edition: current; Page: [98]fought and contrived for him; Cæsar,
Anthony, the authority of the Senate, the folly and corruption of the
people, the eloquence and abilities of Cicero, seasonable
conjunctures, the opposition of some, the compliance or intoxication of others,
nay, the charms of Cleopatra, and his own treachery and
fears: All these coincided to push him forwards, and to hoist him into
Sovereignty; nor indeed wanted he dexterity to improve opportunities; for he
was a notable man, judged well, and had a turn for business.

Nor did it require much genius to hold the Empire, when
he had got it. All who could oppose him were slain or subdued. He had Armies
and Guards; and the people were disarmed and enslaved; the State was so
thoroughly mastered, the Roman spirit so entirely broken
x
, that any the most contemptible wretch among men, provided he were but
vouched by the Armies, and called Cæsar, might rule,
insult, and lay waste the Roman world at his pleasure
y
. What was Caligula, what were Nero and Claudius? were they not monsters,
who but for shape and speech, were utterly disjoined from humanity? and yet
were not these monsters suffered, nay adored, and deified, while they were
wallowing in the blood of men, and making spoil of the creation? Nor were the
savages cut off by any effort of the Roman people, but by the instruments of
their own cruelty, their wives, soldiers and slaves.

Thus it was possible to be Masters of mankind, not only
without common sense, and common mercy and compassion, but even armed with
intense and settled hate against the race of men, and daily exerting it. The
rule and havock of a Lion, or any
Edition: current; Page: [99]other beast of prey, would have been less pernicious,
and less disgraceful to the Roman people, though he had required for his
sustenance a vessel of human blood every day. Nay, had the imperial Lion kept
about him a Court and Guard of subordinate Lions for his Instruments and
Counsellors, they could not have worried and devoured faster than did the
Accusers, Freedmen, Poisoners, and Assassins of the Emperors. Cruelty, inspired
by hunger, ceases when hunger is asswaged; but cruelty, created by fear and
malice, is never satiated, nor knows any bounds. So much less dangerous and
pernicious are the jaws and rapaciousness of a Tyger, than the jealousy and
rage of a Tyrant, his flatterers and executioners.

Now where was the difficulty to Augustus, where the necessity of high wisdom, to maintain the
Sovereignty, when such despicable wretches could maintain themselves in it for
a course of years? The Romans, who were masters of mankind, were become the
tame property, the vassals and victims of creatures equal to no office in a
State, even the meanest and most contemptible office; creatures void of
understanding, void of courage. Such, without aggravation, were the Lords of
Rome for several successive reigns. Such as were a scandal to human Nature,
trod upon the necks and wantoned in the blood of human kind; nay, delegated
this work, and the disposal of the Romans life and property, to the vilest of
their domestics and dependants, their spies, informers, and bond-slaves.

Edition: current; Page: [100]

DISCOURSE V.: Of Governments free and arbitrary, more
especially that of the Cæsars.

Sect. I.: The Principle of God’s appointing and
protecting Tyrants, an Absurdity not believed by the Romans.

I Do not find that a servitude so beastly and ignominious was
borne by the Romans out of Principle. Their Religion, as vain and superstitious
as it was, had never offered such an insult to common sense, as to teach them
that their Deities, as capricious as they thought them, warranted Tyranny, and
sanctified Tyrants; that the brutal and bloody Caligula,
was the beloved and Vicegerent of Jove, almighty, all-wise and all-merciful;
that the worst of men had a commission from Heaven to oppress all men, and to
destroy the best; that murder, rapine and mis-rule were Government, and such
lawless and bloody robbers were Governors divinely appointed; that Society had
no remedy against devouring lust, and the raging sword, which were destroying
all the ends of Society, and Society it self. These are Absurdities below
Paganism and all its chimeras; even the Superstition of Pagans never broached
such blasphemies and indignities to God and Man; never propagated Doctrines
which would have turned men into idiots, destitute of reflection and feeling,
nay, into beasts of burden, and beasts for sacrifice; turned the Deities into
Devils; human society into a chaos of blood and carcasses, and this earth into
a place of torments. It never
Edition: current; Page: [101]entered into the heart of a Greek or a Roman, nor
into any heart which felt the sentiments of virtue and humanity, that it was
unlawful to defend Law; a crime to ward against murder, barbarity, and
desolation; and an impiety to do the most godlike action which can be done on
this side Heaven, that of disarming a Tyrant, and saving one’s Country from
perishing. It is true, that the Romans flattered their Tyrants, as Tyrants ever
will be flattered; but as the names and appearances of the old Government still
subsisted, they pretended to believe that none but the old Laws were exercised;
and by the old Laws the Emperors still pretended to act. For several
generations after the State was enslaved, and even during the Reigns of the
worst of the Cæsars, the Romans expressed high contempt for
Nations who were avowedly slaves, and for Kings who were avowedly arbitrary;
and it then continued usual to behold foreign Monarchs attending the levee and
train of the Roman Magistrates and Governors of Provinces; nay, they were
sometimes denied access, and treated with great scorn.

Government is doubtless a sacred thing, and justly
claims all reverence and duty; but in the idea of Government is implied that of
public Protection and Security; that it is the terror of evil doers, and the
encouragement of such as do well. But when what was Government ceases; and what
is called Government, is, in reality, general oppression, havock, and spoil;
when a power prevails which is swayed by evil doers to the destruction of all
who do well; when law and righteousness are banished, lust and iniquity
triumph; property is violently invaded, and lives are wantonly destroyed; is
this Government too? If it be, I should be glad to know what is not
Government.

Edition: current; Page: [102]

Sect. II.: The reasonableness of resisting
Tyrants asserted, from the Ends of Government, and the Nature of the Deity.
Opinions the most impious and extravagant, why taught, and how easily
swallowed.

IT is certainly unlawful to resist Government; but it is
certainly lawful to resist the deviation from Government, to resist what
destroys Government and men. To resist the abuse of Government, is to assist
Government. It is allowed to be just to help our protectors; but it is equally
just to oppose our enemies, madmen and spoilers. Now what was Nero, what Caligula and Claudius? one a bloody idiot, the other an inhuman madman; the
first like the second, and all of them public robbers and butchers. If their
course of cruelties and oppression was Government, so are plagues, tempests and
inundations; but if their lives and actions were altogether pernicious and
detestable; the exterminating of such monsters from amongst men, would have
been a service to the whole race. Was Tarquin half so black
and odious? yet who has ever blamed his expulsion? was the Insolence and
Tyranny of Tarquin the Ordinance of God? what then was the
succeeding Government of the People and Senate? if this was the Ordinance of
God too; then every Government good and bad, or rather Mis-government as well
as Government, public robbery and ruin, as well as public security and
protection, may be equally said to be his Ordinance; and there are Ordinances
of his that combat one another, like the two Angels contending in one of the
Prophets. But if the Tyranny of Tarquin was, and the
establishing of the free State was not the Ordinance of God, then are not the
Patrons of this opinion obliged to say, and to maintain
Edition: current; Page: [103]this gross and blasphemous absurdity, that the divine
Being disapproves of good Government, Equity and Laws, and delights in
injustice, cruelty and confusion; not in the rule of equal justice, but in the
ravages of lust and iniquity?

To say that all Governments, the good and the bad, are
alike to him, equally inviolable, is to say that he takes no cognizance of
things below; and at this rate, there is, in his sight, no such thing as guilt
and innocence. To alledge that that Government which is best for men, is
disliked by him; and the rule of lust is preferable to that of Laws; is to make
him worse than indifferent, the patron of wantonness and oppression; a foe to
order and benevolence, fonder of one man’s caprice and violence, than of the
happiness of millions; nay a professed advocate for iniquity, a professed
adversary to all public righteousness. If it be said, that he approves not of
Tyranny himself, and yet would not have it resisted by others; this is nonsense
added to prophaneness; since what he neither checks nor allows to be checked,
he may be said to approve. If I see a man going to commit murder, and by
terrible threatning and penalties restrain such as would restrain him, will it
not be construed, that I chose to have the murder perpetrated? It makes him
besides a hard-hearted being, who forbids to remedy the highest human evil,
nay, wilfully dooms human kind to the severest misery.

I never heard that he has forbid under any penalty the use of Medicines
against the Plague, and I think I have found the reason why I never heard it;
the Plague has no treasures, nor dignities to recompence flatterers. Had it
been worth while to have made such prohibition a Doctrine of Religion; that is,
had it been pleasing to Power, and the way to favour, I doubt not but it would
have gained ground, and many followers, as other doctrines equally absurd have
done, where the gain and craft of a few have
Edition: current; Page: [104]been followed and defended by the superstition and
zeal of many; witness Transubstantiation, Purgatory, Auricular Confession,
blind Obedience under the rod of Tyranny, &c. The
Turks out of bigotry to that of Predestination, forbear all precautions against
the Plague, when raging on every side of them. It is impossible to invent a
Doctrine so monstrous and mischievous, but it will meet with partizans and
admirers, provided the inventors have convenient names and habiliments, without
which the most illustrious and benevolent truths will hardly pass with a
multitude bewitched with the magic of words and superstition.

It is impossible for the hearts of men to contrive a
principle more absurd and wicked, than that of annexing divine and everlasting
vengeance to the resisting of the most flagrant mischief which can possibly
befal the sons of men; yet it has found inventors and vouchers. It is plain
from this instance, and from a thousand more, that there is no wickedness of
which the hearts of men are not capable, and that the wretchedness of the whole
race weighs not so much with them as their own profit and pleasure. It would
seem from hence, as if we had lived in the dregs and barbarism of time, since
to the late age (at least here in Christendom) was reserved the infamy of
hatching a Monster so horrible, that to its birth was sacrificed all Sense and
Humanity, all the considerations, and even the essence of Truth, Order and
Liberty.

The advocates for this impious tenet, which represents
the great and good God as incensed with men for striving to remove their chains
and sorrows, are, by defending Tyranny, so much worse than Tyrants, as a Scheme
of Barbarity coolly and deliberately contrived or defended, is more heinous
than particular acts of barbarity committed in the heat and hurry of passion,
and as Murder is a greater crime than Manslaughter.

Edition: current; Page: [105]

What avail Laws and Liberty, ever so excellently framed,
when they are at the mercy of lawless rage and caprice? If we are forbid by God
to defend Laws, why do we make them? Is it not unlawful to make what it is
unlawful to defend? What else is the end of Government, but the felicity of
men; and why are some raised higher in Society than others, but that all may be
happy? Has God ever interposed against the establishment of Society upon a good
foot? If he has not, but wills the good of Society, and of men, how comes he to
interpose against the defence of an Establishment which he nowhere forbids, and
against that good which he is said to will? What more right had Nero to take away the lives of innocent men than any other
Assassin; what more title to their fortune than any other Robber; what better
right to spill their blood than any Tyger? And is it unlawful to resist
Robbers, and Assassins, and Beasts of Prey? Did the Almighty ever say of that
beastly Tyrant, “Touch not Nero my Anointed, nor do his
Ruffians any harm?” Did Nero’s station lessen or abrogate
his crimes?

What idea does it give of God, the Father of mercies and
of men, to represent him screening that enemy to God and man, as a person
sacred and inviolable, and holding his authority from himself; the merciful and
holy Jehovah protecting an inhuman Destroyer! What more relation could there be
between God and Nero, than between God and an Earthquake,
God and a Conflagration or Massacre? The very phrase is shocking to the soul!
Is such representation likely to make the name and nature of God amiable to
men, likely to excite them to love and reverence him? Satan
is said to be delighted with the miseries and calamities of men; and, to
suppose that wicked Being concerned for the security of a Tyrant, whose office
it is to debase
Edition: current; Page: [106]and afflict human race, is natural and consistent
with his Character. But I wish men would not father upon the Author of all good
such counsels and inclinations, as can only suit the father of cruelties and
lies.

Sect. III.: The danger of slavish Principles to
such as trust in them, and the notorious insecurity of lawless Might.

NEITHER have Tyrants and Oppressors been much obliged to this
enslaving Doctrine, which has generally filled them with false confidence and
security; it has always made them worse, seldom safer; and, without doing any
good, been the cause of much evil to their poor subjects. The Turks hold it as
an Article of Faith, and it is one worthy of Turkish grossness and barbarity!
yet where has the deposing and murdering of Princes been so common as in
Turkey? The Monarch is told he may do what he pleases; their Religion tells him
so, the holy Mufti, who explains it, tells him so, and from God he tells him
so; but notwithstanding all these holy Authorities, this person so sacred, and
guarded with securities human and divine, is often butchered with less form
than a common male-factor, and even with the Mufti’s consent and assistance.
Thus it has happened to several in a Century; had not their power been so
great, their security would have been greater.

aAn absolute Prince is of all others the most
insecure; as he proceeds by no rule of Law, he can have no rule of Safety. He
acts by violence, and violence is the only remedy against him. Now violence
which is confined to no rule, but as various and unlimited as the passions and
devices of men,
Edition: current; Page: [107]can never be parried by any certain provision or
defence. His acts of cruelty upon particulars, whether done for revenge or
prevention, do but alarm other particulars to save themselves by destroying
him. Men who apprehend their lives to be in danger, will venture any thing to
preserve them; or if they do more than apprehend and be already become
desperate, we know to what lengths despair will push them. Thus Caligula, thus Domitian and Commodus, were slaughtered by those whom they had doomed to
slaughter. Nor Armies nor Guards can prevent the machinations and efforts of a
secret enemy; even amongst his Armies and Guards such a one may be found, nay,
in his Houshold, in his Bed-chamber, amongst his Kindred, nay, amongst his
Children.

When Princes act by Law, in case of hardship upon
particulars, there is a remedy to be sought from the Law; and when the Law
fairly administered will afford none, they will acquiesce; or, if they blame
any thing, they will blame the Law, but a remedy they will be apt to seek; and,
when they suffer not from Law, but from mere violence, they will have recourse
to violence. Neither can a people be ever so sunk or deadened by Oppression,
but much provocation, some management and a skilful leader, will find or raise
some spirit in them, often enough to accomplish great Revolutions; witness
Sicily under the French, Swisserland under the Yoke of Austria, and the Low
Countries under that of Spain; nay, the most consummate and professed slaves,
those of Turkey, often rouse themselves, and casting their proud rider to the
earth, trample him to death.

Indeed slaves enraged are the most dangerous populace;
because having no other resource against oppression, they repel violence with
outrage; a little spark often raises a great flame; and a flame soon
Edition: current; Page: [108]spreads to a Conflagration, where materials are
prepared, as they almost eternally are in Governments that are absolute or
aiming to be so. The Commotions at Paris, during the Minority of the late King,
were followed by others all over France, though the whole Kingdom had been for
a great while before, by the Tyranny of the Administration, frightened,
despairing, and even lethargic; but the resentment and convulsions that
followed this false calm, had like to have overset the Monarchy. Nor can any
public calm be certain, or any Government secure, where the people are pillaged
and oppressed. People that are used like beasts, will act like beasts; and be
mad and furious, when buffeted and starved.

Sect. IV.: Princes of little and bad Minds, most
greedy of Power. Princes of large and good Minds chuse to rule by Law and
Limitations.

IT is poor and contemptible ambition in a Prince, that of
swelling his Prerogative, and catching at advantages over his People; it is
separating himself from the tender relation of a Father and Protector, a
Character which constitutes the Glory of a King; and assuming that of a foe,
and an ensnarer
b
. This is what a Prince of a great and benevolent spirit will consider;
not himself as a lordly Tyrant, nor them as his Property and Slaves; but
himself and them under the amiable and engaging ties of Magistrate and fellow
Citizens. Such was the difference between a Queen Elizabeth
and a Richard the second; how glorious and prosperous the
Reign of the one, how infamous and unhappy that of the other! what renown
accompanies her memory, what scorn his! It is indeed apparent
Edition: current; Page: [109]from our History, that those of our Princes who
thirsted most violently after arbitrary rule, were chiefly such as were
remarkable for poor spirit, and small genius, Pedants, Bigots, the timorous and
effeminate.

The French Historians observe that the worst and weakest
of their Kings were fondest of Dominion, and their best and wisest contented
with stinted Power, and the rule of Laws. Lewis the
eleventh, says Cardinal De Retz, was more crafty than wise.
He was in truth a genuine Tyrant; he trampled upon the Laws of the Kingdom, and
the lives of his Subjects, pillaged and oppressed all manner of ways, and
followed no Counsel but that of his Lust and Caprice. But what advantage or
content, what security or fame did he draw from his exorbitant encroachments
and power? No man ever lived under a blacker series of fears, and cares, and
suspicions, or died in greater misery and terrors; and in his life, and death,
and memory he is equally detestable
c
. Lewis the thirteenth, a man naturally harmless,
but silly, was jealous of his authority, purely because he was ignorant about
it; but Henry the fourth, who was born with a Soul great
and generous, never distrusted the Laws, because he trusted in the uprightness
of his own Designs. Il ne se defioit pas des loix, parce qu’il
se fioit en lui même, says De Retz. Another French
Monarch of great name, loved and enjoyed unbridled Dominion, but had no
greatness of mind or genius answerable to the measure of his ambition. He had a
sort of stiffness and perseverance, by his flatterers stiled Fortitude and
Firmness, but in reality arising from arrogance or obstinacy; qualities found
in the weakest women, and eminently in his mother. In Religion he was a bigot;
in Politics false, suspicious,
Edition: current; Page: [110]and timid; in Government insolent and oppressive; the
property of his Mistresses, the Pupil of his Confessors, the Dupe of his
Ministers; a sore Plague to his Neighbours; a sorer to his own People; vainly
addicted to War without the talents of a Warrior; a dishonourable Enemy, a
faithless Ally; and, with small Abilities, a great Troubler of the World.

It was natural to such an Imperial Wolf as
Caligula, to delight in power as savage as his own bloody
spirit, and to boast that he had an unlimited privilege to do whatever his will
or fury suggested
d
; but worthy of the benevolent and humane heart of Trajan, were the words by him used to his chief Officers, when
he presented them with the sword. “This sword, this badge of Authority, you
hold from me; but turn it, if I deserve it, against me
e
.” Now, did the challenging and exercise of this monstrous power secure
Caligula; or did the disavowing of it lessen the security
of Trajan? quite otherwise; the former was abhorred and
assassinated as a Tyrant; the latter was adored living, and died lamented, as a
public Father and Guardian: Trajan knew no other purpose of
Imperial Prerogative, but that of protecting the People; nor indeed is there
any other use of Emperors and Prerogatives upon earth.

Cardinal De Retz says, that with all the arguments and
pains he could use, he could never bring the Queen Regent to understand the
meaning of these words, the Public. She thought that to
consult the interest of the People was to be a Republican, and had no notion
that the Government of a Prince was any thing else but Royal Will and
Authority, rampant and without bounds. Was it any wonder, that the people of
France gasped under Oppressions and Taxes, when the Government was
Edition: current; Page: [111]swayed by such a Woman, herself blindly governed by
Mazarine, a public Thief, if ever there was any; one
convicted to have stollen from the Finances nine millions in a few years; one
who had spent his younger years in low rogueries; who had no maxims of rule but
such as were adapted to the severest Tyranny in Italy, that of the Pope; and
one, who, in the highest post of first Minister, could never help shewing the
base spirit of a little Sharper. Le vilain cæur paroissoit
toûjours au travers, says De Retz: the Duke of Orleans
called him un Scelerat, & Ministre incapable & abhorré
du genre humain; un Menteur fieffé.

Sect. V.: The Wisdom and Safety of ruling by
standing Laws, to Prince and People.

IT was a fine answer of Theopompus King of
Lacedæmon to his wife, who reproached him that he would leave the Kingship
diminished to his sons, by creating the Ephori: Yes, says
he, I shall leave it smaller, but I shall leave it more
permanent.Valerius Maximus explains this by a very
just reflection; “Theopompus’s reason was full of
pertinency and force; for, in reality, that Authority which bounds itself, and
offers no injuries, is exposed to none. The king therefore by restraining
Royalty within the just limits of Laws, did as much endear it to the Affections
of his Countrymen, as he pruned it of all Licentiousness and Terror
f
.”

It is as rare for a Prince limited by Laws, and content
with his power, to reign in sorrow, or to die tragically, as it is uncommon for
those who have no bounds set them, or will suffer none, to escape a miserable
Edition: current; Page: [112]Reign, and unbloody end. The power of the Roman Kings
was, from the first establishment, very short; they had no negative voice in
the Senate, and could neither make War nor Peace. What Tacitus says of Romulusg
, can only mean his administring justice, as the chief Magistrate,
between man and man, or perhaps his encroachments upon the Senate towards his
latter end, for which, it is thought, he paid dear.

Where the Government is arbitrary and severe, the
oppressed people will be apt to think that no change can make their condition
worse; and therefore will be ready to wish for any, nay, to risque a Civil War,
risque fresh evils and calamities, to get rid of the present, and to be
revenged on their Oppressor. Such was the temper of the Romans upon the revolt
of Sacrovir; they even rejoiced in it, and, in hatred to
Tiberius, wished success to the public enemy
h
. People will be quiet and patient under burdens, however heavy, which
Law lays on; for they suppose that laws are founded upon reason and necessity;
but impositions the most reasonable will be apt to appear unreasonable and
tyrannical, where they proceed from the will of one. Mere will is supposed to
act without reason, and to be only the effect of wantonness; hence the
acquiescence of a free people however taxed, and from their acquiescence, the
safety of their Governors. Hence too the industry and wealth, and consequently
the peaceableness of the country; for industry and wealth are things exceeding
quiet and tame, and only aim at securing themselves; whereas idleness and
indigence are uneasy, tumultuous, and desperate. Besides, he who pays twenty
shillings in a free Government, and pays it chearfully, would not perhaps,
Edition: current; Page: [113]were the Government changed, pay willingly ten, nay,
perhaps be unable to pay it, though by the change no new taxes were added.
While the Law requires it, he will imagine that no more than enough is
required; and as the same Law leaves him all the rest to himself, he will be
industrious to acquire more, and as much as he can; but when the quantity of
his Tax depends upon the caprice or avarice of one; when the more he is worth,
the more he will be taxed, or even fancies that he will be, he will grow idle,
discontented and desponding, and rather live poor and lazy, than labour to make
his Taxmaster rich. Not to mention the furious Monarchies of the East
destructive of all Diligence and Arts; the Comte De
Boulainvilliers in his Elat de la France, says, that
in some Provinces in France the soil is left uncultivated, and several trades
and professions are disused; because the labour of the Husbandman, and the
skill and application of the Artist, are rendered abortive by rigorous
impositions. They chuse rather to starve in idleness, than to work and
starve.

Sect. VI.: The Condition of free States, how
preferable to that of such as are not free.

NO arbitrary Prince upon earth could have raised from the States
of Holland the fifth part of what they have, as a free State, paid to their own
Magistrates, nor could have sound whence to have raised it. I will venture to
say the same of England. Under a Monarchy of the late King James’s model, was it possible to have supported two wars so
long and consuming as the two last, or to have raised sums so
immense to carry them on? It would be madness to assert it. By this time
numbers of our people would have been driven from their Country, much of our
Soil been waste, many of our
Edition: current; Page: [114]Manufactures laid aside, our Trade sunk, our Wealth
fled, and the condition of England have resembled that of France, as well as
our Government theirs, and for the same reason. It is in vain boasted of the
House of Medicis, that in a long course of years they had laid no new tax upon
a country where their power was absolute; since the Cities and Territories,
under their Sovereignty, are by it reduced from great wealth and populousness
to such miserable desolation and poverty, that it is downright oppression to
oblige them to pay any considerable part of the old, much more all.

To reason from experience and examples, is the best
reasoning
i
. Compare any free State with any other that is not free. Compare the
former and present condition of any State formerly free; or once enslaved, and
now free. Compare England with France; Holland with Denmark; or the seven
Provinces under the States, with the same seven Provinces under Philip the
second; you will find in these and every other instance, that happiness and
wretchedness are the exact tallies to Liberty and Bondage.

Florence was a Commonwealth ill framed at first, and
consequently subject to frequent convulsions, factions, parties, and
subdivision of parties; yet by the mere blessing and vigour of Liberty, she
flourished in people, riches and arms, till with her Liberty she lost all
spirit and prosperity; and became languishing, little and contemptible under a
small Prince with a great name. She has been long cured of all her former
frolicks and tumults, by an effectual remedy, servitude; and beggary, the child
of servitude; and by depopulation, the offspring of both
k
. All arguments for absolute Power, are confuted by facts; no Country
governed by mere will
Edition: current; Page: [115]was ever governed well; passion governs the will, the
will becomes the measure of right and wrong and of all things, and caprice the
ballance of the will; and I know not but it may be maintained that a free State
the worst constituted, as was that of Florence, is, with all its disorders,
factions, and tumults, preferable to any absolute Monarchy, however calm
l
.

Sect. VII.: The Misery and Insecurity of the
Cæsars from their overgrown Power.

THESE Emperors of Rome, who had sacrificed their country and all
things to their supreme power, found little ease and security from its being
supreme. From Cæsar the Dictator, who had sacrificed public
Liberty, and was himself sacrificed to her manes, till
Charlemain, above thirty of them were murdered, and four of
them murdered themselves; the soldiery were their masters, and upon every pique
put them to death. If the Prince was chosen by the Senate, this was reason
enough for shedding his blood by the Armies; or if the Armies chose him, this
choice of their own never proved an obstacle against shedding it. It was the
soldiers that dispatched the Emperor Pertinax, after he had
been forced to accept the Empire. These lofty Sovereigns having trodden under
foot the Senate, People and Laws, the best supports of legitimate Power, held
their scepter and their lives upon the courtesy of their masters the soldiers.
He who swayed the Universe, was a slave to his own mercenaries.

Though Augustus had reigned so long, and so thoroughly
enfeebled or extinguished the maxims of Liberty, and introduced and settled
those of Monarchy; Tiberius his immediate Successor,
Edition: current; Page: [116]thought himself so little safe, that he lived in
perpetual vassalage to his own fears. By making all men slaves, he could not
make himself free, and was only the most overgrown and gaudy slave in the
Empire; so much do Princes gain by being above Law! They who will be content
with no terms of reigning, but such as make all men fear them, will find
reasons to fear all men. Tiberius did so, and the many
sacrifices which he made to his fear, far from lessening, did but encrease it,
as such sacrifices did but multiply enemies and terrors.

First he dreaded Agrippa Posthumus,
and murdered him; but the murder ensured not his repose, even from that
quarter; for a slave of that Prince personated his master, and alarmed
Tiberius more than Agrippa had done. He
dreaded Germanicus, and when that excellent person was dead
(by no fair means, it was supposed) he dreaded Agrippina
his wife, and her little children; and when by all manner of treachery and
cruelty he had oppressed them, he was seized with new dread from Sejanus, the greatest and justest of all; nor ceased his dread
after the execution of Sejanus; insomuch, that he commanded
a general Massacre of all his Family, Friends, and Adherents. Next, his fears
still continuing, he doomed to the most barbarous death his own grandsons by
Germanicus; for their being already under miserable
imprisonment and exile, did not suffice. And when the Family of Germanicus was destroyed; he had remaining fears from the
Friends and Dependants of that House; these were the next objects of his
Vengeance, which he executed fiercely. Nor small was the Terror which he
entertained of his own Mother; and when she was gone, he let loose his rage
upon the Favourites and Adherents of his Mother.

Edition: current; Page: [117]

Now after all these precautions, so many and so bloody,
did his suspicions abate? No; they were rather whetted and inflamed
m
. Of the great Lords of the Senate he was under perpetual apprehensions,
and making daily victims; their wealth and race, nay, their poverty, names, and
qualities frightened him; he feared friends and enemies. Those who advised him
in council, those who diverted him at his leisure hours; his Confidents,
Counsellors, and Bottle-companions, were all Martyrs to his Jealousy and Fury.
He was so afraid of considerable men, or giving them employments which made
them so, that some who were appointed Governors of Provinces, were never
permitted to go thither, and great Provinces, for a course of years, left
destitute of their Governors; and though he dreaded stirs and innovations above
all things
n
; yet he suffered the loss and devastation of Provinces, the insults and
invasion of enemies, rather than trust any one with the power of avenging the
State, and repulsing the public foe. Thus he left Armenia to be seized by the
Parthians, Mœsia by the Dacians and other barbarians, and both the Gauls to be
ravaged by the Germans
o
, says Suetonius.

Sect. VIII.: A representation of the Torments
and Horrors under whichTiberiuslived.

WHAT joy, what tranquillity did Tiberius
reap from his great and unaccountable Sovereignty? Did it exempt him from
disquiet, or could all his efforts, all the terrors of his Power, prevent
Edition: current; Page: [118]or remove his own? Did his numerous Armies protect
him from the assaults of fear and apprehension? Did he sleep the sounder for
his Prætorian Bands? Did the Rocks of Capreæ, hardly accessible to men, keep
off those horrors of mind which haunted him at Rome, and on the Continent? Or
rather, with all the eclat of Empire, with all his Policy and all his Guards,
was he not the most miserable Being in his Dominions? Doubtless he was; other
particulars, the most obnoxious and threatened, had but some things and some
persons to fear; Tiberius dreaded all men and every thing.
Was his Power unlimited? so was his Misery; the more he made others suffer, the
faster he multiplied his own torments. He himself confessed, that all the anger
of the Deities could not doom him to more terrible anguish than that under
which he felt himself perishing daily.

Imagine this great Prince, this Sovereign of Rome, in
hourly fear of secret Assassins; daily dreading and expecting the news of
Armies revolted, a new Emperor created, and himself deposed: imagine him fixed
upon a high rock, and watching there from day to day, with a careful eye and an
anxious and boding heart, for signals from the Continent, whether he must stay
or fly: imagine him every moment ready to commit himself to the waves and
tempests, and to escape whither he could for life and shelter: imagine him,
even after a Conspiracy suppressed, lurking for nine months together in one
lodge, under such terrors as not to dare to venture an airing even in his
beloved Capreæ, however walled with Rocks and defended with Guards. In short,
he feared every thing but to do evil, which yet was the sole cause of his
fears. Such was his situation and life, and such the blessing of lawless might!
“To Tiberius not his Imperial fortune, not his gloomy and
inaccessible solitude could ensure
Edition: current; Page: [119]repose, nor keep him from feeling nor even from
avowing the rack in his breast and the avenging furies that pursued him.” His
Death too, was, like his life and reign, tragical and bloody.

Sect. IX.: The terrible Operation of lawless
Power upon the minds of Princes; and how it changes them.

TIBERIUS was an able man; he had talents for Affairs; he had
eminent sufficiency in War; during the Commonwealth he would have well
supported the Dignity of a Senator; he would have filled the first Offices of
the State; he would have probably been zealous for public Liberty. He had even
under Augustus, while he was yet a Subject, acquired a
signal name and estimation. Nay it is likely he might have left behind him a
high reputation and applause; for he had Art enough to have hid or suppressed
the ill qualities which were naturally in him; so that he might have lived
happy and admired, and died in renown. But being, unhappily for himself and his
Country, invested with Power without controul, he let loose all his Passions,
and he, who might have proved an excellent and useful Member of a free State,
became a Prince altogether merciless and pernicious; a terrible Tyrant, void of
natural affection for his own Blood and Family, void of all regard and
tenderness for his People, and possessed with intense hate towards the Senate
and Nobility. One of his discernment was not to be deceived by Flattery; he
knew that, whatever submissions and even prostrations were made him, the Yoke
of Sovereignty was grating and grievous to the Romans, and he sought revenge
upon their persons for hating his Usurpation. This conduct made him more hated,
and this hatred enraged him so, that at last, renouncing all shame, and
Edition: current; Page: [120]throwing away his beloved Arts of Dissimulation, he
commenced, as it were, an open Enemy to his People, surrendered himself over to
every act of Cruelty, and to every abomination, even to Rapaciousness and
Plunder, a vice to which for a long time he seemed to have no biass.

But what is not to be apprehended from Power without
controul, and who is to be trusted with it, when a man of such strong parts and
long experience as Tiberius, was so entirely mastered and
perverted by it? It is a task too mighty for the soul of man, and fit for none
but God, who cannot change, cannot act passionately, cannot be mistaken, and is
omnipresent. There are few instances of men who have not been corrupted and
intoxicated with it, and many, of whom the highest hopes were conceived, have
degenerated notoriously under it. When men are once above fear of punishment,
they soon grow to be above shame. Besides, the genius and abilities of men are
limited, but their passions and vanity boundless; hence so few can be perfectly
good, and so many are transcendently evil. They mistake good fortune for great
merit, and are apt to rise in their own conceit as high at least as fortune can
raise them. Galba was, in the opinion of all men, worthy of
Empire, and that opinion would have ever continued, had he never been tried;
and Vespasian was, till then, the only instance of an
Emperor by power changed for the better
p
.

NOR was this anguish and these fears peculiar to Tiberius, his Successors felt them eminently; as did every one
who reigned as he reigned. Caligula was so haunted by
inward horrors, and his imagination so terrified, that he became almost a
stranger to sleep, and used to roam about the palace while others slept, afraid
of the night, and invoking the return of day. Upon an alarm from Germany, he
prepared to run away from Rome; and was always provided with exquisite poison
against an exigency. Claudius scarce lived a moment of his
Reign free from affrights and suspicions; nor was there any accident so
trivial, or any Man, Woman, or Slave, or Child so contemptible, as not to
dismay him and set him upon sanguinary precautions and punishments; he was
several times almost frighted out of his Sovereignty, and willing to creep away
into safety and solitude. Even before the Senate, which upon the sight of a
dagger, he had summoned in great haste and earnestness, the poor unmanly wretch
burst into tears and howling, bewailed his perillous condition, that in no
place or circumstance could he be out of the way of danger. His whole life was
governed by fears, and his fears by his wives and freedmen; hence his excessive
cruelty, according to the measure of his own timidity, or of their ambition,
vindictiveness, and rapacity. The Horrors of Nero’s guilt
never forsook him; they were sometimes so violent, that every joint about him
trembled; he dreaded his Mother’s Ghost as much as he had her living Spirit,
and made doleful complaints, that the Furies pursued him with
Edition: current; Page: [122]Stripes, and Rage, and burning Torches: and that he
was alarmed with horrid shrieks and groans from his Mother’s Tomb. What else
did Heliogabalus apprehend but a violent death, when he
went always provided with a silken halter and a golden poignard, as expedients
to escape death by the hand of an enemy? For the like purpose Caracalla made himself a copious provision of poisons. This
barbarous Parricide was wont to complain that the Ghost of his Father, and that
of his Brother by him murdered, terrified and pursued him with drawn swords. So
sorely did the bloody Horrors of their Crimes and Infamy, haunt these men of
Blood, and became their Executioners! What availed their Power and Armies
against the alarms of their Conscience? Could all their Titles and Might, all
the Guards at their gate, scare away reflection, or rescue them from the
agonies and goreings of their own breasts?

Sect. XI.: What it is that constitutes the
Security and Glory of a Prince; and how a Prince and People become estranged
from each other.

WHAT then is it that a Prince may rely on for the security of
his Person, and the quiet of his Soul? Hear the opinion of a great and a good
Prince, Marcus Antoninus, delivered to his Friends and
Counsellors just before he expired: “Verily it is neither the influence of
Revenue and Treasures, nor the multitude of Guards, that can uphold a Prince,
or assure him of obedience, unless with the duty of obedience, the zeal and
affections of his People do concur. Surely, only long and secure is the Reign
of such a one as by actions of benignity stamps upon the hearts of his People
the impressions of love; not those of
Edition: current; Page: [123]fear by acts of cruelty.” He adds, “that a Prince has
nothing to fear from his People, as long as their obedience flows from
Inclination, and is not constained by Servitude; and that Subjects will never
refuse obedience, when they are not treated with contumely and violence
q
.

A man who means no ill would not seek the Power to do it, and he who seeks
that Power, or has it, will be eternally suspected to mean no good. Now the
only way to obviate such suspicion, is, to act by known rules of Law; he who
rules by consent is obnoxious to no blame. Such restraint may probably at some
times keep a just Prince from doing good, but it certainly withholds a bad one
from doing much greater mischief. An arbitrary Prince who can do what he will,
is for ever liable to be suspected of willing all that he can; hence his people
mistrust him; hence his indignation for their mistrust, and hence the root of
eternal jealousy and uneasiness between him and them.

The People likewise expect complaisance from the Prince,
expect to have their sentiments and humours considered; while the Prince
probably thinks that they have no right to form any judgment of public matters,
or to make any demands upon him; but, on the contrary, requires of them blind
reverence and obedience to his Authority; and acquiescence in his superior
Conduct and Skill; that all his doings should pass for just; himself for a
person altogether sacred and unaccountable; and his words for Laws. If their
behaviour towards him do not happen to square exactly with these his sovereign
notions and high conceit of himself, he will be apt to think, or some officious
flatterer will be ready to persuade him
r
, “his Royal Authority is set at nought, the
Edition: current; Page: [124]People are revolted; and what remains but that they
take Arms?” To punish therefore their Disobedience, he proceeds to violence,
and exercises real severity for imaginary guilt. Mischief is prolific; violence
in him begets resentment in them; the People murmur and exclaim; the Prince is
thence provoked, and studies vengeance; when one act of vengeance is resented
and exposed, as it ever will be, more will follow. Thus things go on. Affection
is not only lost, but irrecoverable on either side; hatred is begun on both;
and Prince and People consider themselves no longer as Magistrate and Subjects,
but one another as Enemies. Hence perhaps Caligula’s
inhuman wish, that he could murder all his People at a blow. The sequel of all
this is easy to be guessed; he is continually destroying them; they are
continually wishing him destroyed.

Sect. XII.: How nearly it behoves a Prince to be
beloved and esteemed by his Subjects. The terrible Consequences of their mutual
Mistrust and Hatred.

HOW much does it import Princes to preserve the good opinion of
their People! when it is once lost, it is scarce ever to be recalled. When once
they come to believe ill of their Prince, there is nothing so ill that they
will not believe; as in the instance of Tiberius, of whom
things the most improbable and horrid were believed. It is hardly possible for
any merit, the most genuine and exalted, to preserve popular favour for a long
time; accidents and disasters will be falling in, to sour the spirits of the
populace; or some fresh merit, more new or more glaring, may appear, and lessen
or intercept their admiration of the other; or the same person may not always
have the same opportunities to oblige them; so that the best care and conduct
can
Edition: current; Page: [125]only serve to retain it to a certain degree; and this
by good conduct is certainly and always to be done. But when the reputation of
the Prince with his Subjects is entirely gone, something worse than the bare
want of it will ensue. Between a Prince’s forfeiting the public Affection and
his incurring the public Hatred, there is scarce any medium, and even that
medium is a terrible one, since to be scorned is not much better than to be
hated, and often infers it.

Would a Prince live in security, ease and credit? let
him live and rule by a standard certain and fixed, that of Laws, nor grasp at
more than is given him. Many by seeking too much have lost all, and forfeited
their Crown through the wantonness and folly of loading it with false and
invidious ornaments. While nothing would serve them but lawless Power, even
their legitimate Authority grew odious, and was rent from them. They set their
People the example of assuming what was none of theirs, to do acts of violence
in defense of violated Laws, to judge for themselves, and to sanctify by the
title of Right whatever they could accomplish by force. Rather than live upon
bad terms, people will be apt to make their own terms, and think no fealty is
due where no saith is kept. Who would not rejoice more in a free gift than in
plunder? for such is the difference between Power conferred and Power usurped.
What new Prerogative acquired to the Crown, or what new Revenue can make amends
for the Hearts of the People estranged and embittered? This is such a loss, as
no acquisition, no pomp of Power whatsoever, can atone for. We have seen under
what gloom, asfright, and despair the Cæsars lived and swayed, though their
sway was without check and bounds. Machiavel says, that
when a Prince has once incurred the public hate, there is no person nor thing
which he ought not to dread.

Edition: current; Page: [126]

He who does no ill, fears none; but such as are
continually creating terrors and calamities to others, have abundant reason to
be under continual apprehensions themselves. How much more desirable, how much
more just, and easy, and safe is the condition of a Prince, who lives and rules
by Laws over a free People by their own consent? both People and Laws are his
guard, and what secures them, secures him. They seel that he loves them; and he
is conscious that they ought to love him. This is Government, and the effects
of it; not the triumph of boundless arrogance or folly; not the insults of one
over all, nor consequently his distrust of them, nor their slavish dread of
him; but the equal administration of eternal Righteousness, and stated Laws; an
endearing intercourse of fatherly
care and protection, and of filial gratitude and duty. How amiable must it be,
how refreshing to a generous Spirit, to oblige and solace a whole People, to
have a whole People adore and bless him! What master of Slaves, even the
highest and most unbounded master, can boast so much of himself and his slaves?
The Grandeur of such a Prince is all false and tinsel, painted and hollow; he
is never secure, because he is not innocent; he is not innocent, because he is
an Oppressor.

To rule by mere Will, is to rule by Violence, and
violence is War. He who puts himself in a state of Hostility with his Subjects,
invites Hostility from them, as did the late King James,
who having no Confidence in the Laws, which he had violated, nor in his People,
whom he had oppressed, put himself in a posture of War against his Subjects; so
that when they too had recourse to arms, they did but stand in their own
defence. They had no quarrel to that King James, who had
taken an Oath to rule by Law; but when that King assumed another person, and,
in spite of Oaths and Laws, would oppress
Edition: current; Page: [127]and spoil, they who owed this man of violence no
Allegiance, opposed Might to Might, since he would abide by no Law. It was not
their Prince therefore that they resisted, but their Enemy and Spoiler: he in
truth, had no more Right to what the Law gave him not, than the great Turk had;
they therefore opposed not an English Monarch, but an Invader and a Tyrant. Nor
do I know of any People who threw off their Monarchy wantonly; and if they did
it through Oppression, the Oppressor might blame himself
s
. Had he conquered his Subjects, what would he have gained, but the
detestable Glory of a triumphant Oppressor; of seeing a rich Country reduced by
servitude to poverty, and of bearing the curses of a free People oppressed?
Whoever has beheld the condition of a great neighbouring Kingdom, naturally the
finest in Europe, has seen in the condition of the Inhabitants, poor, pale,
nasty, and naked, what genuine Glory their Princes have reaped, by reducing all
the Laws of their Country into one short one, that of Royal Will and
Pleasure.

Sect. XIII.: Public Happiness only then certain,
when the Laws are certain and inviolable.

IT is allowed that amongst the Roman Emperors, there were some
excellent ones. But was not all this chance? They might have proved like the
rest, who were incredibly mischievous and vile. They had nothing but their own
Inclinations to restrain them; and is human Society to depend for security and
happiness upon uncertain Inclinations and Will? They were good by conformity to
the Laws, as Laws are the only defense against such as
Edition: current; Page: [128]are bad. The bad ones had almost sunk the Empire to a
chaos, before there appeared one Prince of tolerable capacity and virtue to
retrieve it. Insomuch that Vespasian declared it to be
absolutely necessary to raise a fund of above three hundred millions of money
(of our money) purely to save the State from absolute ruin, and dissolution
t
. After Domitian there succeeded five good Reigns,
during which Law and Righteousness prevailed, and the Emperors took nothing,
neither power nor money, but what Laws long established gave them, and
professed to derive every thing from the Law, and to occupy nothing in their
own Name. But as the Emperor might still be a Tyrant if he would, that wild
Prince Commodus resumed the old measures of violence, and,
becoming a second Caligula, dissipated and overturned, in a
few years, all the treasure, wise provisions and establishments, contrived and
gathered by his Predecessors during the best part of a Century.

To conclude, if Princes would never encroach, Subjects
would hardly ever rebel; and if the sormer knew that they would be resisted,
they would not encroach. Every Subject knows that if he resist against Law, he
will die by Law. It is certain mischief to both Prince and People, to assert
slavish Doctrines, and no security to either; since nature oppressed will
depart from passive principle. But to assert the reasonableness of vindicating
violated Laws, is no more than asserting that Laws ought not to be violated, as
they ever will be where there is no penalty annexed. The least attempt upon
public Liberty is therefore alarming; if it is suffered once, it will be apt to
be repeated often; a few repetitions create a habit; habit claims prescription
and right. Such also is the nature of man, that
Edition: current; Page: [129]when public Affairs are once disconcerted, it is
hard, sometimes impossible, to restore them to their first firmness; numbers
become engaged in the corruption, and will be trying all their Arts and Power
to support it. Where it grows extensive and general, the public Authority will
probably espouse and defend it; and even where that authority is against it,
the torrent may be so strong as to bear down Authority itself. How many great
and good men have fallen themselves while they strove to restore the State?
attempts to reform the Soldiery, to reform the Clergy, to reform the Civil
Administration, have often drawn down a tragical doom upon the authors of them.
It is much easier to prevent than to cure.

DISCOURSE VI.: Of the old Law of Treason by the Emperors
perverted and extended.

Sect. I.: The antient Purpose of that Law;
the Politics ofAugustusin stretching
it.

I Proceed now to shew by what Arts and Supports the Tyranny was
preserved and exerted; how the old Laws, especially that of Treason, were
perverted, and to explain the instrumenta regni. “This
Law, says Tacitus, in the days of our Ancestors, had indeed
the same Name, but implied different arraignments and crimes, namely those
against the State; as when an army was betrayed abroad, when seditions were
raised at home; in short, when the public was faithlesly
Edition: current; Page: [130]administered, and the Majesty of the Roman People was
debased. These were Actions; and Actions were punished, but Words were free.
Augustus was the first who brought Libels under the
penalties of this wrested Law
a
.”

In that sense of this Law (and doubtless it is the true
sense) the Emperors were the criminals; they who had enslaved Senate and
People, usurped and destroyed the State. But they had got the Power of
interpreting Laws, or of directing those who did, and consequently were become
the Law-makers. As Laws observed had defended Liberty; Laws wrested secured the
Usurpers. Hence the old Law of Treason was degraded and perverted to involve in
its penalties the Authors of Lampoons and Pasquinades. This Law of Majesty was
so much and so long prostituted and abused; so much bloodshed and oppression
was committed by the succeeding Emperors under its name, that at last every
sentence and punishment, however just, which was pronounced by virtue of it,
was thought unlawful and cruel; so that out of detestation to this abused Law,
many other good Laws perished.

Doubtless Reputation is a tender thing, and ought no
more to be violated than property or life; and they who attack and blacken it,
are as vile Offenders as they who rob and steal. But there was no better
pretence for making it treasonable, than for construing any other offence
against particulars, to be an offence against the public. In truth,
Augustus could have no other view in this, than the
suppressing of that Freedom of Speech which
Edition: current; Page: [131]was an effect of the freedom of the antient
Government, and inconsistent with his Usurpation. When words were made Treason,
it was time to be wary of one’s expressions; especially when the construction
of them was merely arbitrary, and the Law that made them so, was utterly silent
about them, there remained no sort of rule to know when they were otherwise;
nor had he who was to be judge any rule but his own suspicion, anger and
partiality. For every word, for every action, men were involved in process for
Treason, provided there appeared but an informer to charge him, and call it
so.

It is to no purpose to say that Augustus sometimes overlooked or pardoned invectives against
himself. It was all grimace and false generosity; since, after this Law was so
terribly inverted, there was little likelihood that men would run such capital
risques. If contumelies upon private persons were high Treason, what must it be
to meddle with the Prince or his Administration? He took care of himself
without seeming to do so; he found his own sanctuary in providing one for
others; and regulations made for his own defence and gratification, had an
appearance of a spirit altogether public and disinterested. But it was a
downright insult upon the sense of mankind, to convert a petulant imagination
and a few wanton words, into a crime against the State. He who exposed the
gallantries of a Lady of Quality, or the faults and foibles of a Patrician,
was, forsooth, deemed to bear hostile purposes against the Commonwealth: for
this is the construction of Treason by the Lawyers. Yet Augustus himself had made obscene Libels, particularly upon
Fulvia the wife of Anthony. This
multiplying of Treasons from Words and Writings, had a melancholy aspect; for,
besides that Treasons multiplied are the bulwarks and engines of Tyranny; looks
at
Edition: current; Page: [132]last became treasonable, as did natural sympathy and
sorrow, nay, sighs and silence.

Augustus was cunning enough to know the advantages of
Treasons multiplied to his own domination, and wrested adultery also into a
crime of State. His daughter and her daughter were prostitutes, and all their
gallants, according to this merciful Monarch, were Traytors, and because these
sort of Traytors were very numerous, as well as considerable for quality and
credit, he had here a good pretence to get rid of many considerable Romans, who
gave him uneasiness and jealousy. With death or banishment therefore he
punished their gallants. For to a crime common between men and women, he gave
the grievous name of Treason and Sacrilege, and trod upon the moderation of
Antiquity. Nor was this sort of Treason limited to the Reigning House and the
blood of the Cæsars; it was universal, and every Adulterer was a Traytor; by
which he made himself the greatest Traytor in Rome, as he was the most
universal Adulterer; nor were his own severe Laws any check upon him, no more
than the sacred ties of friendship; for he spared not the wife of his own
Favourite, and faithful Counsellor Mæcenas. This was not
extreme prudence in so great a Politician, to be daily violating institutions
of his own making, especially when by the rigour of the penalties, and the
formidable name which he had given to the crime, he had shewn how important and
unpardonable he thought it; unless, like the Princes of Italy in Machiavel’s time, he broke penal Laws, to encourage others to
do so, on purpose to ensnare delinquents, and gain confiscations.

Edition: current; Page: [133]

Sect. II.: The Deification of the Emperors, what
an engine of Tyranny, and snare to the Roman People.

THE Deification of Augustus and his usurping
even in his life-time the Attributes and Prerogatives of a Deity, was another
snare for Power and Crimes. Henceforth every offence offered to this new Deity
was high Treason against the Gods; for he was a God as well as the best of
them, and indeed more to be dreaded than all of them. It became a high crime to
swear falsly by his name, the same as if the name of Jupiter had been
falsified; nay, to sell his Statue in the sale of a house or gardens; and the
citizens of Cyzicus, notwithstanding their faithful adherence and strenuous
services to the Romans in the Mithridatic War, were bereft of their freedom for
neglecting the worship of the deified Augustus. The name of
Apidius Merula was razed from the list of Senators, because
he had not sworn upon the Acts of the deified Augustus. One
of the articles charged against C. Silanus, Proconsul of
Asia, was, that he violated the Deity of Augustus. Varilia,
in the opinion of Tiberius, deserved to be condemned, if
she had uttered aught irreligiously concerning the deified Augustus; for this was Treason and Blasphemy. Such was the awe
and reverence paid to this fresh Deity; and such care had he taken to tie up
the tongues of men from censuring him living or dead; he was instar omnium deorum; you might say what you would of other
Gods, but beware of injuring a deified Emperor. He had done more mischief,
committed higher oppressions, spilt more human blood than all the men in the
world, and was made a Deity!

Edition: current; Page: [134]

Nor was it out of any principle of Superstition, that
Tiberius guarded the fame and Godhead of Augustus with such severe sanctions; for he little mattered the
Gods and godly Rites, being himself a Fatalist, and only infatuated with
notions of Astrology. Neither was it from any regard to Augustus (who was suspected to have been poisoned to make way
for him) and whose Blood and Posterity he was daily destroying; a proceeding
inconsistent with the adorations and sacrifices which he affected to offer him,
as Agrippina truly told him. But he did it to promote
Superstition in others, and rivet the public Slavery; since in religious
devotion paid to a Prince, civil submission was included and enforced. It in
truth imported him nearly to have all the Laws and doings of Augustus pass for sacred, and to set an example himself that he
thought them so. Augustus had left him (as he pretended)
his Successor, and it behoved him that Augustus should pass
for a Prince of consummate wisdom; for had he erred in other great counsels and
events, he might have erred in that; besides, Augustus was
a popular Prince, and it would have been unpopular to have neglected him, or
rescinded his deeds.

Nero too acquired the Sovereignty by the murder of
Claudius, and, to keep it, murdered his Children and
Kindred; yet he at first treated his memory with high regard, vindicated the
Reign, and even extolled the parts and prudence of this deified fool; for
Claudius too was listed amongst the Gods; he who had been
the most stupid, cowardly, and bloody Idiot that could possibly wear and
disgrace a Diadem. This strange animal or human monster, just begun by nature,
but never finished, as his mother used to say, was utterly unfit for any Office
in the Empire or private life, yet came to be an Emperor and a God. So that to
Edition: current; Page: [135]bear sovereign rule, or to be exalted to a God, no
qualification at all was necessary. His grandmother Livia
contemned him even to loathing; she could not bear to speak to him. His nephew
Caligula, when he had butchered many of his kindred, saved
Claudius purely to keep him for a laughing-stock. He was
held in the same scorn by his sister Livilla, by
Augustus and all his family. He was the jest of the Court
b
. The kindest word Augustus gave him was that of
misellus, wretching.

Sect. III.: The Images of the Emperors, how
sacred they became, and how pernicious.

AS flattery begot servitude, so it was by servitude propagated,
and whatever tended to sink and debase the spirit of the people, as sycophancy
did, exalted the Tyrants; nay, their Images and Statues became sacred and
revered; and any villain or profligate might offer what outrage he pleased to
every worthy man, every slave insult his Lord, every criminal escape justice,
by sheltering himself under the Emperor’s Statue, or by carrying his Effigies
about him. Nor could so considerable a man as a Senator of Rome, even in the
face of the Tribunal, and in the very portal of the Senate, escape the insults
and menaces of a profligate woman, who thus defended herself with the Image of
Tiberius, though he had legally convicted her of forgery;
so far was he from daring to bring her to judgment. So that in this impious
reverence to a silent Stone, all Law, and punishment, and protection was
swallowed up. This gives probability to what Philostratus
tells us in the life of Apollonius Tyaneus, that a master
was
Edition: current; Page: [136]condemned, as one sacrilegious and accursed, for
having chastized a slave, who happened to have about him a small coin impressed
with the Effigies of Tiberius. So vastly had servitude
grown upon the Romans so early as the Reign of Tiberius,
and in the best part of his Reign, even while he yet kept tolerable measures
with Law and Liberty, and warily avoided all excesses of power and cruelty. Yet
in his second year, Granius Marcellus being arranged of
high Treason, it was one of the Articles, that the Statue of Marcellus stood higher than that of the Cæsars, and from that
of Augustus the head had been taken off, and the head of
Tiberius put on. At the recital of this Tiberius waxed into such a flame and fury, that, departing from
his wonted caution and silence, he cried aloud, he would vote in this cause
himself under the tie of an oath. He was excellently answered by Cneius Piso, who asked him; “In what place, Cæsar, will you chuse to vote? if first, I shall have your
example to follow; if last, I fear, through ignorance, I may happen to differ
from you.” Hence the reflection of Tacitus, that there even
then remained some faint traces of expiring Liberty
c
.

It is not strange, however hideous, to find afterwards
these Statues, these dead representatives of the dead, invested with such
extravagant and inviolable sanctity, that it was death without redemption for a
master to chastize his slave near the picture or image of Augustus; death, to change one’s garments there; death, to
carry a coin or a ring with his Image into the Privy or into the Stews; death,
to drop a word that seemed to censure any action or any saying of his; and
death was the portion of that unhappy man, who suffered some public
Edition: current; Page: [137]honour to be decreed him by his Colony, on the
Anniversary of the same day, when Augustus had once public
honours decreed to him.

The execrable Caligula, who was a
professed foe to the human race, a monster gorged with blood, and dyed in it,
assumed Godhead as well as the rest, and claimed all the apparatus of Divinity,
a Temple and Altars, Worship and choice Sacrifices. It is incredible what
dreadful punishments he inflicted upon many even of principal fashion, for no
other crime, than that they had never invoked his celestial Genius by an Oath.
This was capital, it was Majesty violated; and for it the offenders, after they
had been first torn and mangled with stripes, were doomed to the mines, or to
the drudgery of mending the public roads, or to be thrown to wild beasts; and
some were sawed asunder. A bloody Deity! Had he been omnipotent, the race of
men must have been extinct. All his own murders, all the efforts of his malice
and rage, were not able to accomplish it, and he wished to derive the Glory of
his Reign from some signal Calamities happening in it; as if the monster
himself had not been curse and calamity enough! He envied Augustus the happiness of an Army massacred, and Tiberius the sad disaster at Fidenæ, where fifty thousand souls
were maimed, or perished outright by the fall of the Amphitheatre there. Hence
he longed passionately for the blessing of some public Calamities great and
dreadful, the Slaughter of great Armies, Famine, Pestilence, Conflagrations and
Earthquakes. The acclamations of the crowd in the Theatre differing from his,
he uttered a Godlike wish, “That the whole Roman People had but one common
neck; for then one execution would have dispatched them all.” To complete the
Character of this benevolent Deity, he
Edition: current; Page: [138]boasted, that of all his great Qualities, none
delighted him so much as his defiance of all shame
d
.

These celestial Titles and Worship divine, were sometimes
bestowed upon the wives of the Emperors, their sisters, harlots, and infants.
Caligula was wont to swear by the Divinity of
Drusilla his sister and concubine. Claudius had divine Honours decreed to Livia his grandmother. Nero’s daughter by
Poppæa was deified; Worship, Priest, and Chapel were
assigned her; and it was one of the crimes imputed to Thrasea
Pætus, that he did not believe Poppæa herself to be a
Divinity. Nay, it would seem as if Nero’s Voice had been
created a Divinity, since I think, it was Treason never to have sacrificed to
it; a crime imputed to the same Thrasea. Domitian likewise
adjudged himself a God, and proved much such another as Caligula.

Sect. IV.: What a destructive Calamity the Law
of Majesty grew, and how fast Treasons multiplied under its Name.

I Have said so much of this humour of deifying Princes living or
dead, not so much to expose it, as to shew the wicked effects it had upon
Liberty and the State. It opened a new Source of flattery, and accusations, and
punishments, and strengthened the hand of Tyranny; of this I have given
sufficient instances, and many more might be given, all manifestly proving with
what impudence and cruelty the Law of Majesty was stretched and embittered. In
this Law all Laws were swallowed up, and therefore all crimes brought under the
article of Treason,
Edition: current; Page: [139]as Treason was the highest crime
e
, as in the case of C. Silius, whose chief offence
was overmuch service done to Tiberius; thence that refined
observation of Tacitus; “That benefits are only fo far
acceptable, as it seems possible to discharge them; but when once they have
exceeded all retaliation, hatred is returned for gratitude.” Under
Tiberius, says Suetonius, every fault
passed for Capital, even that of Words, however few and undesigning. When C.
Silanus was arraigned for male-administration in Asia,
Tacitus says, that besides all the other methods of
artifice and violence, manifold and barbarous, used to destroy him; that none
of his relations might dare to aid him and plead for him in his trial, articles
of Treason were subjoined, a sure bar to all assistance, and a seal upon their
lips. One of the great charges against Libo Drusus was,
that he asked the fortune-tellers, whether he should not one day be immensely
rich. This too was the sin of Majesty violated, and for it he was pursued to
death and his estate seized. Note, that these were two men of high quality,
akin to the Cæsars, and obnoxious to Tiberius. This seems
to have been their real crime. Cesius Cordus was accused of
Rapine in his Government of Crete; but to make sure of the criminal, he was
likewise charged with the crime of violated Majesty; a charge, says
Tacitus, which in those days proved the sum and bulwark of
all accusations whatsoever.

It was Treason in Cremutius Cordus to have
inserted in his History the praises of Brutus; Treason, to
have stiled Cassius the last of the Romans, though in doing
it he only quoted the words of Brutus; Treason in
Titius SabinusEdition: current; Page: [140]to have been a follower of Germanicus, and after his death, a faithful friend to his wife
and children; Treason in Pompeia Macrina, Treason in her
Father and Brother, the former an illustrious Roman Knight, the latter once
Prætor, to have been descended from Theophanes of Mitylene,
a noble Greek, in great confidence with Pompey the Great;
Treason in L. Ennius a Roman Knight, to have turned the
Effigies of the Emperor into money; Treason in Lutorius
Priscus, another Roman Knight, to have composed during the illness of
Drusus, a Poem for an Elegy, in case he died; Treason in
Mamercus Scaurus, an illustrious Orator nobly born, that in
a Tragedy by him composed, there were certain Verses capable of two meanings;
Treason in Torquatus Silanus, a Nobleman of the first rank
in Rome, to live splendidly, and entertain several principal servants; another
Silanus his Nephew died soon after for the very same sort
of Treason. In another Nobleman it was Treason, to have preserved the Image of
Cassius amongst those of his Ancestors; Treason in the two
brothers sirnamed Petræ, both illustrious Roman Knights, to
have dreamed something about Claudius; Treason in
Appius Silanus, that Messalina the
Empress, and Narcissus the freedman, had forged a dream
concerning him; and, to add no more, it was Treason, it was Majesty violated,
for a poor distressed Lady to have bewailed the blood of her son, spilt to
satiate an implacable Tyrant incensed by his gay raillery. This was
Fusius Geminus lately Consul; and his ancient mother was
murdered for bewailing the murder of her child
f
.

Edition: current; Page: [141]

DISCOURSE VII.: Of the Accusations, and Accusers under the
Emperors.

Sect. IV.: The pestilent Employment of these
Men, their Treachery and Encouragement.

FROM Law thus perverted there arose encouragement more than
enough for Informers and Accusers, and a plentiful harvest: a sort of men, says
Tacitus, born for the destruction of mankind, and by no
terrors or penalties ever sufficiently restrained; yet by the Emperor such sons
of perdition were sought out and invited by great rewards. Tiberius had the front to tell the Senate, that these insects,
enemies to Law and Liberty, were the Guardians and Defenders of the Laws. They
were his Defenders, if he pleased; the Champions of Imperial Violence and Lust;
but the Pests of the Public; dogs of Prey thirsting after the blood and
fortunes of every worthy and every wealthy man. That Prince who does not punish
Informers, encourages them, said Domitian; but this he said
in the beginning of his Reign while he yet retained the appearances of
benevolence and humanity; afterwards when the disguise was taken off, and he
followed the bent of his brutal nature, it was enough to ruin, any man, if he
were but charged to have done some deed, or spoke some word, no matter what,
against the Majesty of the Prince. Men were then capitally arraigned, and the
estates were seized of both the living and the dead, for any fault whatsoever,
Edition: current; Page: [142]upon the credit of any Accuser whatsoever; and
inheritances, to which he could have no possible title or pretence upon earth,
were usurped by him, if there was but one Person, one Informer, who could say,
that he heard the deceased declare Cæsar to be his heir.
The same pretence served Caligula; nay, when people had out
of fear named him amongst their heirs, he wondered at their impudence to keep
him out of his share by living afterwards, and for that offence poisoned many
such. In short the chief and most frequent incidents in the Reigns of almost
all the Cæsars, were but the bloody efforts and success of the Accusers; and
the groundwork and support of all accusations, was the perverted Law of
violated Majesty, which came to signify every thing which the Accusers averred
and the Emperors disliked.

In the beginning of Tiberius’s
Reign, L. Piso, one of the boldest men then surviving, owned himself so much
intimidated by the merciless pursuits of the Impleaders, who breathed nothing
but terror and accusations, that he threatned in open Senate to relinquish Rome
and retire into some distant corner of the earth. He had reason for his
complaint and fears, he was afterwards marked out as a victim and prey by one
of the tribe, and arraigned for certain words secretly dropped against the
Majesty of the Prince. These accusations were no other or better than the cruel
Proscription continued; by the latter, Senators and Knights, Patriots obnoxious
to the Usurpers, were butchered in the lump; afterwards, under the process of
the Accusers, they perished piece-meal, but were incessantly perishing
a
, often a great many at a time. Every Law
Edition: current; Page: [143]of the old free State, and every man who loved his
Country and her Laws, were repugnant to the reigning Tyranny; hence as the
Republic was swallowed up in the Sovereignty of the Cæsars, all her laws were
made to center in that of Majesty, and all men who adhered or were suspected to
adhere to the ancient Constitution, were either destroyed by this new Law
(rather an old Law turned into a new snare) or at the mercy of its Guardians
and Accusers. And all this new violence was committed under old names and
constitutions
b
; so that the Commonwealth was made to cut her own throat; just as cruel
and ambitious men justify Persecution and Oppression by the authority of the
Gospel, which abhors it. The Church of Rome calls every thing that displeases
her, Heresy and Blasphemy; this is the Lex Majestatis of
some Churchmen, and by cruelties committed under that name they have more than
vied with the Nero’s and Domitian’s.
Thus, after a solemn murder committed by the Senate, to gratify Tiberius, he sent them a Letter of thanks, for punishing a
person who was an enemy to the Commonwealth; as if the Republic had been then
subsisting and vindicating her own wrongs.

The Accusers were the agents and tools of Tyranny, and
by the Tyrants upheld and animated with open countenance and high rewards;
their business was to hunt down and destroy every man signal for blood, or
wealth, or dignity, or virtue; because all such men were obnoxious to imperial
Jealousy and Displeasure. Had a noble Roman sustained public Offices? he was a
dangerous man; had another refused to bear them? he was equally dangerous; and
for public Offices either exercised or declined, he was sure to be attacked as
a criminal of State;
Edition: current; Page: [144]and if he were conspicuous for any notable ability or
virtue, his doom was inevitable
c
. Valerius Asiaticus perished because he had
delightful Gardens, which tempted the avidity of Messalina;
as did Statilius Taurus, for the same reason, by the
avarice and subornation of Agrippina; so did Sextus Marius for his immense Wealth and gold Mines, under
Tiberius. This gives one an idea of the terrible spirit of
the Emperors as well as of the Accusers; how much the former feared and hated,
and how fast they destroyed every thing that was noble, good, or amiable
amongst men; and what a pestilent employment was that of an Accuser! Was it any
wonder that to carry on so detestable a trade, they were to be tempted with
lucrative earnings? In truth, their recompences were so public and ample, that
they were detested not more for their Iniquities than for the Wages of their
Iniquities.

These Pests of Rome were, for being so, frequently
raised to the highest Offices in the Roman State; and that Imperial City, the
Mistress of the Earth, saw her public Dignities, those of the Pontificate, and
of the Consulship, bestowed as spoils upon Parricides for spilling her best
blood, and tearing her vitals. With the Prince their credit was high, as their
merit was infamous; some were preferred to be Governors of the Provinces,
others taken to be his chief Confidents and Counsellors in the Palace. And
thus, vested with credit and sway, exerting all their terrors, and pursuing
their hate, they controuled and confounded all things
d
. After the tragical Death of Libo Drusus, procured
by execrable Artifices, Falshoods, Horrors and wrested Laws,
Edition: current; Page: [145]all the substance of that noble Patrician was divided
amongst his Accusers; and such of them as were Senators were created Prætors,
even without the regular method of election. The four Senators who ensnared
Titius Sabinus, by trapanning, lurkking, feigned
friendship, and by a series of treachery the most infamous and cruel that could
be practised amongst men, and afterwards accused him, engaged in all this
meritorious villainy purely to gain the Consulship, to which there was no
possible access but through Sejanus, nor without villainy
was the favour of Sejanus to be sought or purchased.

But besides rewarding of the Accusers out of the fortune
of the Accused, (for where they had not all, they still went shares with his
children) they had frequently excessive sums out of the public Treasury;
Capito Cossutianus had near a hundred and thirty thousand
Crowns, for accusing Thrasea Petus; Eprius Marcellus had as
much, for the same good service; for Nero, after he had
long wallowed in the blood of eminent men, and butchered them without number,
was in hopes by the murder of Thrasea and Soranus, to extirpate Virtue, name and essence, from the face
of the earth. Ostorius Sabinus, the Accuser of
Soranus, had indeed a less reward in money, that of thirty
thousand Crowns; but the reward was enhanced by the ornaments of the
Quæstorship presented with it. “These Incendiaries were animated, and such
crying calamities to the public were excited by the Minions of the Court, who,
as it were, sounded the Trumpet to Arraignments and Confiscations; on purpose,
that out of the fortunes of the condemned they might raise or increase their
own;” says Am. Marcellinus. Aquilius Regulus, an upstart
and a mischievous Accuser under Nero, was distinguished
with two Consulships, and the dignity of Pontiff;
Edition: current; Page: [146]and had premiums in money to the value of more than
two hundred thousand Crowns; as if he had been burying the Commonwealth, and
for this merit had afterwards gathered her spoils, says Tacitus.

Sect. II.: The traiterous Methods taken to
circumvent and convict Innocence. The spirit of accusing how common, the dread
of it how universal; and the misery of the Times.

AS upon these bloody occasions, it was necessary to find or
feign some crime; so any crime served the turn, as I have largely shewn;
witnesses also must be had; but any witnesses were good witnesses; and where
they did not offer themselves, they were bought with money, or frightened with
the torture. Slaves were suborned against the life of their Lords; clients and
freedmen against their Patrons; and he who had no enemy, was betrayed and
undone by his friends
e
. Now, because, by the old Roman laws, slaves could not be witnesses
against their masters, the crafty Tiberius found a trick to
evade that law without seeming to violate it; he contrived to have the slaves
upon such occasion sold; and then they might be evidence against their late
Lord. This perfidious subtilty was begun by Augustus, as is
largely shewn by Dion Cassius. Nay, when a man had no other
to accuse him, he was accused by his own son. Dreadful times! even, all rewards
and incitements apart, fear for themselves made men treacherous to others;
falshood and cruelty reigned uncontrouled. If you would please the Prince, you
must gratify his bloody spirit; to do that, you must offer victims and exercise
the trade
Edition: current; Page: [147]of accusing; if you were ill with him, no man, no
innocence could protect you; and to be well with him, you must make all other
men detest you. To make your own fortune you must ruin that of others, and shed
blood to get money.

To this vile employment men of the highest Quality
descended, and those of the first note for Eloquence and Civil Accomplishments;
such was Cotta Messalinus, a man nobly born, but the
foremost in every sanguinary motion; such was Publius
Dolabella, who sprung from Ancestors the most illustrious, yet debased his
Nobility, and engaged in the occupation of an Accuser, even against those of
his own blood. When men of such Quality set such example, what wonder if
numbers followed it? Many pursued it for money; others because they would not
become obnoxious by appearing slack. The question was not about right or wrong,
Law or Magistracy; but how to please and humour, to satiate the Emperor, and to
escape his suspicion and fury. It was the plea of the Accusers afterward, when
they were brought to answer for their crimes, that they were obliged by the
Emperors, or their wives, to undertake and prosecute accusations: this
Suilius pleaded, and urged the imperious orders of
Messalina. Nay, men of figure were sometimes called upon by
the Emperor in person to undertake Accusations. This, says Tacitus, was one of the most baneful and deadly evils of those
times, that the first Lords of the Senate degraded themselves to the office of
the vilest Informers; some impudently in the face of the sun; others in the
dark ways of treachery; no distinction of kindred from strangers, of friends
from such as were unknown; none between things lately transacted, and such as
were covered by a course of years in oblivion; for words spoken in the Forum,
spoken at an entertainment, and about what subject soever
Edition: current; Page: [148]spoken, the speaker was accused; every one hastening
to be foremost in the accusation, and to prevent his fellows; some for their
own safety, many, as it were, struck with the contagion, and smitten with the
disease of accusing.

This universal treachery begot apprehension in all men
equally universal. When villainy was thus rewarded, or thus necessary, and thus
every-where practised by high and low, every man was fearful of finding every
man a villain. Hence the mournful anguish and terror which seized the City;
people were afraid to converse, nay, afraid to meet; they distrusted all alike,
their acquaintance as well as the unknown; even things mute and inanimate were
dreaded; and roofs and walls created terror and circumspection; nay, they were
apprehensive that guilt might be found in these their apprehensions, and thence
came to dread this very thing, that they had shewn dread
f
.

Sect. III.: Plots feigned or true, an ample field
for Accusations and Cruelty; and upon what miserable Evidence Executions were
decreed.

BUT the best market for Accusations, and the best opportunity
for the Emperor to exert Tyranny, and consume men, was the detection of any
Conspiracy forged or real. How prodigious and merciless was the slaughter
committed by Constantius after the death of Magnentius, and by his bloody instrument Paulus, sirnamed Catena from his dexterity
in calumny and accusations! Thus too, upon the detection of the designs of
Sejanus against Tiberius, who at one
time, for a course of years, had destroyed every man that
Edition: current; Page: [149]was obnoxious to this execrable Favourite of his, and
afterwards destroyed every man who had been well with his Favourite; thus when
those of Piso against Nero came to be
discovered, the whole business of the State was that of accusing, imprisoning
and executing. Rome was dyed, deformed, and filled with blood, and death, and
funerals; and as many as were hated, or disliked, or worth destroying upon any
account, were sure to have been Conspirators, and to be doomed to the pains
annexed to Conspiracy. Tiberius caused a general slaughter
to be made of all that were in prison, under accusation of intelligence with
Sejanus. Any thing upon earth, the lightest, the most
fortuitous and foolish thing, served for proof of such intelligence.
Pomponius Secundus was arraigned of Treason, for that there
were some signs (but not shewn by him neither) of friendship between him and
Aetius Gallus, who was a friend to Sejanus, who was a Traytor. Gallus, upon
the execution of Sejanus, had retired into the Gardens of
Pomponius: this was all; yet this was the doughty argument
used by his Accuser, for proving this worthy and accomplished man a Traytor,
one who had violated Majesty. Yet his Accuser Considius was
a man considerable enough to have been Prætor: it was thus, I suppose, he
shewed how well he deserved Imperial Favour, and one of the highest Dignities
in the State.

The Emperor Constantius was as cruel
and as credulous: with him it was death to be accused, and every Accusation,
however doubtful, or false, or even whispered, was convincing proof of guilt;
nay, the least rumour, however groundless, the smallest hint, however spiteful,
created Treason and death without redemption; and by no better proof men of the
first quality and merit were doomed to confiscation, or banishment, or
execution. The
Edition: current; Page: [150]bare saying that such a one was in the Conspiracy, or
a friend to the Conspirators, was conviction in abundance for taking away
Estates and Lives. Nero, whose chief and only purpose was
to afflict and destroy, created guilt wheresoever he found distaste. His own
hatred or fear was crime enough, and reason sufficient to destroy the object.
Some were sacrificed without being once accused, or named; some punished ere
they knew they were accused; and the least defamation was full conviction.
Nothing was more common than to charge any great man, doomed beforehand to
destruction, with designs against the State. This was the charge upon
Libo Drusus. All the guilt that could be proved upon him,
though to prove it, and indeed to create it, the most villainous arts were
used, was, that he had consulted the Fortune-tellers, and dealt in Charms. This
was conspiring against the State, it was Treason; and because the Romans were
much addicted to such sort of Superstition, this became a very convenient
Treason, and very fertile; yet Tiberius himself was, as
much as any, addicted to Astrology. In the accusations particularly against
great Ladies, who for blood, or wealth, or beauty, merited Imperial Wrath, it
was a constant article, that they had dealt with the Chaldeans, or practised
the rites of Magic: and for this many great Ladies were doomed to death
g
.

Edition: current; Page: [151]

Sect. IV.: What ridiculous Causes produced
capital Guilt. The spirit of the EmperorConstantius;with somewhat of his FatherConstantine.

THIS humour of consulting the Astrologers, still encreasing with
Superstition and Tyranny, administered an inexhaustible fund of crimes and
accusations: the noise of a Mouse in a wall, or the sight of a Weasel, became
matters of omen and consultation, and consequently matters of Treason and
Blood: so did the use of an old Woman’s Charm for aches: so did the counting
the Vowels upon one’s Fingers, as a remedy against the Colic: so did the
wearing of an Amulet for an Ague: so did the casual dropping of any Word or
Joke, that bore any analogy to the Empire, or the Emperor’s name, or to any
matter of State and Power: so did the frequenting of Sepulchres, and carrying
away the bones or habiliments of the dead: so did any Dream dreamt about any
such subject, or construed to be so dreamed.

Under Constantius there was one Mercurius, a Persian, who was a favourite of the Emperor, and a
spy for Dreams; insomuch that he had the title of Somniorum
comes. This blessed instrument, a fellow of a malicious spirit, and
fawning behaviour, used to creep into all companies and banquets, to fish out
Dreams from particulars; and whatever he there learned of this kind, after he
had, with all his invention, dressed it up in ugly and formidable colours, he
carried instantly to the Emperor, whose ears were ever open wide to such
mischievous infusions; and this Dreaming, thus represented, was a crime to be
expiated only by the blood of the Criminal, I should say, Dreamer, and so a
terrible process was formed. This terror spread so much,
Edition: current; Page: [152]that people, far from telling their Dreams, durst
scarce own that they slept: nay, it was lamented by some, that they had not
been born upon Mount Atlas, where, according to tradition, people never
dream.

To complain too of the badness of the times, was high
Treason; for this was arraigning the Government, and punished capitally. But
Death itself, however unjust, was not always the most formidable woe. The
accused were often not allowed the benefit of Death, till they were first
barbarously racked and mangled by torture; and to gratify the inhuman Vengeance
of the Prince, their Agonies were continued as long as life could continue
under them
h
. This is testified by Ammianus Marcellinus of
Constantius the second Christian Emperor, more cruel than
Nero and Caligula; a consideration
which confirms what I have said before, that where the Government is bad, even
the best Religion can do little good. Constantius was a
Christian, and even zealous in Church Matters, and Religious Disputes, and by
fostering them did miserably afflict Christianity and the Empire. But he was so
far from being improved or bettered by this zeal, that the most cruel Tyrants
that went before him, such monsters as Caligula, Domitian,
and Commodus, were but babes to him in cruelty
i
.

I wish much better things could be boasted of his Father, the first Emperor
who embraced Christianity, and stiled Constantine the
great. All the Princes, even the persecuting Princes who went before him,
hurt not Religion so much as he did;
Edition: current; Page: [153]by blending it unnaturally with Politics and Power,
by laying the foundations of a spiritual Tyranny, and enabling the Bishop of
Rome, and other great Prelates, to exert the domineering spirit, which before
they had but ill concealed; a spirit which has almost extinguished that of the
Gospel. In his Civil Administration, he was rapacious, profuse, and oppressive;
and in his Family barbarous and sanguinary; however his partial and flattering
Historian, Eusebius, has extolled him, and concealed the
iniquities of his Reign. But, in barbarity, and the excesses of Power, his son
and Successor Constantius exceeded him. What just reason
had Ammianus to say, that under the lying pretence of
guarding Imperial Majesty, numerous and horrible were the butcheries then
committed
k
!

Sect. V.: The black and general carnage
made underConstantius,by his bloody
MinisterPaulus Catena,for certain
Acts of Superstition and Curiosity.

CONSTANTIUS surrendered at one time a great part of the Roman
World to the merciless hands of Accusers, Torturers and Executioners; and
certain causes, in themselves frivolous and contemptible, but magnified with
the swelling imputation of Majesty violated, produced all the uproar and
calamity attending a great Civil War. The trumpets sounded to try and slay
l
.

An Egyptian Deity, named Besa, was
noted for uttering Oracles, and telling fortunes, and thence
Edition: current; Page: [154]much frequented, adored and consulted by all the
Countries round about. As many consulted him in person, others did it in
writing: this occasioned, that several of the billets thus sent, continued in
the Temple after the answer was returned. Some of these were maliciously
transmitted to the Emperor, a Prince of a poor spirit, suspicious, and bitter.
He now waxed fierce and wrathful, and instantly dispatched his execrable
instrument, Paulus Catena, into the East, armed with Powers
equal to those given to some famous Captain for carrying on a mighty war.
Paulus was authorized to hear and determine discretionally,
and proceeded to his charge, breathing nothing but rage, and bloody zeal.
Universal accusation and calumny being thus licensed and encouraged, numbers of
all degrees were dragged from far and near, as it were, out of the several
quarters of the world, to this barbarous Tribunal, and exposed to the mercy of
a butcher, who only pursued blood and prey. Some came with their joints
excoriated with fetters, others crushed and spent in carts made for carrying
criminals; no distinction made between the noble and vulgar. The process was
long and tragical; in short, confiscations, exiles, tortures worse than death,
death under tedious torments, and every evil painful or destructive to human
nature, was there exerted and suffered. As for Paulus, the
lives, and fortunes, and fate of multitudes depended upon his nod, a man
skilled in the Arts of cruelty, aad openly professing them; a savage who made a
market of the rack and the wheel; one, fed, as it were, with human carcasses
mangled, and enriched by butchery and rapine; a fellow who avowed the trade of
accusing and killing, and studied to ensnare and devour innocence, lives, and
property. This was the man in high favour and trust under the pious
Constantius. It will be a relief to the Reader to know that
this monster,
Edition: current; Page: [155]bloated with blood and crimes, was burnt alive under
Julian, a Prince of very different parts and spirit.

Sect. VI.: The Ravages of the Accusers
continued; their Credit with the Emperors; yet generally meet their Fate. The
Falsehood of these Princes. The melancholy State of those Times.

THE Reigns of these following Princes, Constantius, Constans, Gallus, Valentinian, Valens, were spent
in a continual war upon their people, under colour of their Majesties being
violated.

Crying and tragical were the ravages committed at Rome by that
bloody man Maximinus, where, under pretence of Majesty
violated, poisonings, and acts of lewdness, some few real, more imputed, were
used as a stale for killing, torturing, and destroying. Every man, or woman,
that was obnoxious to him or the Accusers, was put to death; and to private
malice or rapaciousness a sea of Roman blood was spilt. I think it was this
Maximinus, who persuaded certain persons accused to confess
and discover others, and in that case promised they should undergo no
punishment either by sword or fire. They did so, trusting to his faith, and
confessed crimes never committed; he then, for a salvo, doomed them to die
under leaden hammers. He was executed himself under Gratian.

Against the defence of innocence accused, against the
most evident truth and justice, and all honest information, the ears of the
Emperor were eternally shut; but calumny whispered by any malighant, had equal
weight with real crimes proved by authentic witnesses; says Ammianus. Falsehood
Edition: current; Page: [156]and flattery, envy and rapaciousness passed for
evidence; justice was converted into cruelty, and judgment into rage; the
Tribunals erected for justice, and preservation of life and property, were
become shambles, and what had the names of pains and penalties, was in truth
robbery and assassination.

As there was never any lack of Accusers, there was none
of Criminals; and the accused, the more they were destroyed, the faster they
multiplied; like witches in former days, daily executed, and daily increasing.
They were the food and revenue of the Accusers, who while they could speak and
lie, could never want occupation or wages, as long as there were Tyrants and
men. Marcellus was charged with having uttered disaffected
words concerning Tiberius, and the Accuser collecting every
thing which was detestable in the manners of that Prince, alledged the same as
the imputations of the accused. A large field for accusations, and well
cultivated by the Accusers! you could say nothing of these Emperors that was
true, but what was Treason; such bloody monsters were they all! and the worst
you could have said being actually true, you were easily believed to have
actually said it. What a blessed lot it must have been to have lived in those
Reigns, under monsters unchained, and rogues let loose; when virtue and
property were proscribed, villains caressed and guarded!

The persons of Accusers came to be considered as sacred
and inviolable; the more they were detested by the public, the more they were
protected by the Emperor; and in proportion as they merited death and ignominy,
had countenance and preferment. Their vilest forgeries, convicted and owned,
against the lives and fortunes of the greatest men, drew down no doom or
penalty upon them. The crimes charged upon Fonteius, late
Proconsul of Asia, by Serenus, were proved to have been
Edition: current; Page: [157]by him forged; yet he escaped punishment. Nay, the
more the man was abhorred by all men, the more Tiberius
considered and protected him. This Serenus was a villain of
exalted merit; he had falsly accused his own father of Treason, an old man, and
already in exile: but Tiberius owed him a spite, and the
son studied to oblige Tiberius, who had been offended with
the elder Serenus for once upbraiding him with some wicked
service unrewarded; nor had an interval of eight years pacified the Prince. Yet
it generally so happened, that their reign was but temporary; first or last
most of them found the genuine wages of their fraud and iniquity, and suffered
the same doom which they had made others suffer; a doom much more bitter, as it
was just, accompanied also with universal hatred of their persons, and with a
guilty and upbraiding conscience. This was the fate of Suilius,
Cassius Severus, and others.

Now as it was the custom, to find high Treason in
harmless words, impertment vanities, and even in ridiculous follies, deserving
rather pity than punishment, such as were those charged upon Libo; so it was the purpose and policy of the Emperor never to
prevent any guilt of this kind: on the contrary, he was glad of guilt, and when
he knew it was begun, let it run on, till it was ripe, and evidence and
Accusers were ready. Tiberius knew that Libo dealt with the Astrologers, with every thing done or said
by him; yet at no time had he caressed Libo more, than at
the time when he was meditating his destruction. He preferred him to the
Prætorship; he entertained him at his table; shewed no strangeness in his
countenance, no resentment in his words; so deeply had he smothered his
vengeance! and when he might have restrained all the dangerous Speeches and
Practices of Libo, he chose rather to permit them, in order
to punish him for them.
Edition: current; Page: [158]The crafty Tyrant did not only lull asleep his
destined victim by these excessive civilities; but meant by them to deceive the
world, as if Libo’s crimes were a surprize upon him, at a
juncture when he would seem to have meant all kindness to Libo. But he was mistaken, and his dissimulation only served to
heighten the opinion of his malice; for craft discovered is worse than folly,
as folly never creates hatred. Cunning is only then complete, when it cannot be
detected, which seldom happens. Nero caressed and flattered
Seneca, while he was devising all methods to destroy him.
When he meant to murder his mother, never was there such a scene of false
fondness as that which he played. He was formed by nature, says Tacitus, and by habit nurtured, to hide his hate under
insidious blandishments. Domitian used to treat with the
utmost good humour and tenderness such as he intended to murder; nor was there
any warning or interval between his caressing you and delivering you to the
Executioner; nor a more certain sign that a tragical doom awaited you, than the
Prince’s gentle behaviour towards you. Well might Suetonius
say, that his cruelty was not only excessive, but sly, and instantaneous.

Now under such a torrent of Accusations, under Laws
perverted, Informers busy, employed, protected and rewarded, when all things
were crimes, and all men were feared, nay, when fear itself was a crime, (for
when Caligula murdered his brother, he gave it for a
reason, that the youth was afraid of being murdered) when servants and
neighbours, nay, acquaintance and kindred, were all justly to be suspected; we
need not admire that all offices of friendship and compassion were suspended
amongst men, and compassion itself, as it were, extinguished. When
Libo Drusus, so often already mentioned, upon his
arraignment for Treason, went in mourning
Edition: current; Page: [159]from house to house to sollicit the interposition of
his relations (as all the great families in Rome were so) and to pray their
aid, when his life and all was at stake; they all declined it to a man, each
alledging a reason of his own, but every one in reality from the same cause,
namely, their fear of the Emperor
m
.

People must not only shew no sorrow or sympathy for
their murdered relations, but they must testify joy, unless they had a mind to
be murdered themselves; as under Nero, many, whose nearest
relations had been murdered by him, repaired to the Temples with thanksgiving
and offerings, and when the City was filled with corps, so was the Capitol with
victims. In that mighty carnage made by Tiberius of the
friends and followers of Sejanus at once; when the
pavements were covered with single carcasses, or filled with carcasses in
piles, those of every sex and age, many that were noble, many that were mean,
all cast abroad promiscuously; neither their acquaintance nor kindred were
allowed to approach them, or to bewail them, or even at last to behold them.
About the coarses spies were placed, to watch countenances, and the signs of
sorrow: and when, after they became putrified and noisome, and were thrown into
the Tiber, whether they floated in the stream, or were cast upon the banks,
none would touch them, none durst bury or burn them. The force of Fear had cut
off all the commerce and offices of Humanity; and the more Tyranny raged, the
more human compassion was extinguished
n
. Even the outrageous Caligula had so well learned
to hide his heart, that when by
Edition: current; Page: [160]the cruelty of Tiberius, his
mother and both his brothers were condemned and banished, not a word escaped
him; nor a groan; though all arts were used to draw words and resentment from
him. Octavia too, the wife of Nero,
when her little innocent brother was murdered before her face, by the direction
of the Tyrant her husband, had even then learned, young as she was, to smother
all symptoms of tenderness and sorrow, and every affection of the soul; nay,
Agrippina, with all her courage and high spirit, laboured
to hide her surprize and dread, and every other emotion, upon that
occasion.

Sect. VII.: The increase of Tyranny. Innocence
and Guilt not measured by the Law, but by the Emperor’s Pleasure and
Malice.

ONE would think that Tyranny had by this time gone as far as it
could go, and that after this, human cruelty and terrors could be strained no
higher. But this is a mistake, Flatterers and Accusers were ingenious villains,
and Tyranny is a monster never glutted; it is still craving for new butchery
and victims; its purveyors therefore are ever studying to humour and pamper it
o
. Who could have imagined any thing upon earth more intensely cruel than
Tiberius? yet his Successors exceeded him and one another
in cruelties, for number and quality; and Domitian
committed such as had escaped even the preceding monsters. Hence Tacitus says; “As our fore-fathers had seen the ultimate point
and last efforts of public Liberty; it was reserved to us of this generation to
behold the utmost weight and severity of public Bondage; since by the terrors
of State Inquisitors,
Edition: current; Page: [161]we were even bereft of the common intercourse of
Civil Life, that of discoursing ourselves, and of listening to the discourse of
others:” he adds, “we should have also lost the use of memory, as well as the
habit of speaking, had it been equally in our power to forget as to be
silent.”

The trial of persons for Treason went on generally in
the old form, but in effect, was all resolvable into the breast and good
pleasure of the Prince. According to hints from him, persons were condemned or
acquitted; sometimes by his interposing the Tribunitial Power, they were not
admitted to be accused; sometimes Treason was found in one man’s words and
actions, which in another were not allowed to be criminal. Thus men were
sentenced, or absolved, or not accused, not according to their guilt or
innocence, but to their degree of grace or dislike with the Emperor, who had
the Prerogative to coin guilt and innocence, and invert one into the other, as
he pleased. Thus Tiberius pursued Vestilius to death, his brother’s antient friend and his own,
for suspicion of having lampooned his Nephew Caligula; but
would not allow Cotta Messalinus to be a criminal for the
same offence and for many more. But Cotta had merit, he was
always foremost in every bloody Counsel; all his wickedness and crimes were so
many services, and so much merit. In those days there was no sure guilt but
that of worth and of virtue, and innocence; hence the security of all men
egregiously mischievous. The known cruelty of the Prince, was no terror to
those who took care to escape it, by the vileness of their lives; especially if
they were active to feed his cruelty by noble sacrifices; like Haterius Agrippa, who meditated in the midst of his cups and
harlots the destruction of illustrious men. The worst and
Edition: current; Page: [162]vilest men in the Empire, became the securest, and
often the highest, by destroying the best.

Sect. VIII.: WhatTacitusmeans by Instrumenta regni.

BESIDES the Accusers, who were the Imperial Bloodhounds, to hunt
men down for words, conjectures, signs, and appearances, by ridiculous pleas,
forced constructions, and wrested Laws; the Emperors had other pestilent tools
called by TacitusInstrumenta regni,
the Instruments of Imperial Rule. These were the Poisoners and Assassins. When
there was no room or pretence to accuse a person signal for worth or opulence,
or on any account obnoxious, and thence fit to be destroyed; or when it was
unsafe to accuse him; recourse was had to a dose or dagger. Such were P.
Celer, and Ælius the Freedman, they who
poisoned Julius Silanus, by the appointment of
Agrippina: such was Anicetus, who
murdered Nero’s Mother, by the direction of her son: such
was Locusta, who administred the poison to Claudius, a woman famous for many feats in poisoning, and long
retained for this talent, amongst the implements of Court; it was she who
prepared this poison as well as that which destroyed young Britannicus: such was Xenophon, Physician
to Claudius; one who helped to dispatch his master: such
were they who by the procurement of Livia, made away the
descendants of Augustus. After the assassination of
Caligula, in his apartment was found a chest filled with
all sorts of poisons, so rapid, that when they were thrown into the sea, they
proved baneful to the fish; and numbers were by the tide cast dead upon the
shore. Such also were the Tribunes and Centurions, and even the Captain of the
Prætorian Guards; who
Edition: current; Page: [163]whenever they were ordered to seize and kill, never
failed to obey, without any reason but the word of command. Thus Posthumus Agrippa was dispatched by a Centurion under
Tiberius: thus Gerelanus the Tribune,
was, at the head of a band of soldiers, by Nero employed to
see the execution of Vestinus the Consul, a man charged
with no guilt; but Nero, who hated and feared him, having
neither crime nor accuser against him, and being therefore unable to assume
even the false guise of a Judge, betook himself to the violence of a
Tyrant.

In truth, the whole body of Prætorian Guards were kept
by these Tyrants as their Assassins, to murder for them, or to secure others
who did. The Turk too has his Mutes and Poisoners in the Seraglio, as well as
soldiers, to execute his fury secretly, or openly. Lewis
the eleventh entertained other secret Ruffians to stab and drown, besides his
trusty murderer the Provost Tristan. Queen Katherine and her son Charles the Ninth,
kept an Assassin, to dispatch privately such men of rank as they could find no
other means to destroy; and as dark as the proceedings in the Bastile are kept,
it is known what helps have been administered to the miserable prisoners there,
to get rid of life, besides that of nature. Under the Reign of Lewis the fourteenth the trade of poisoning was brought to
great perfection; and was suspected, with too much appearance, to have been
part of the Politics of some French Ministers, as well as the bane of
others.

Edition: current; Page: [164]

Sect. IX.: How much these Emperors hated, and
how fast they destroyed all great and worthy Men. Their dread of every Man for
any Reason.

THE destruction of every man who was great or good, was so
common and almost certain in those tragical Reigns, that Tacitus reckons as a wonder the natural death of L.
Piso, chief Pontiff
p
. Eminent men, and eminent merit, are the dread of Tyrants. That merit
and those talents which, during the old Republic, would have certainly
recommended a man to public Favour and public Honours, did afterwards expose
him as certainly, to Imperial jealousy and persecution, generally to ruin and
death; and those pestilent Accusers, Instruments of public Servitude, the sons
of rapine and blood, who were now the men of fashion and favour, and cloathed
with the spoils of their Country, for afflicting and mangling her, and
devouring her vitals, would have been then treated as public Enemies and Beasts
of prey, and doomed to the pains of Murder and Treason, with universal consent
and abhorrence.

Such a barbarous and unnatural inversion of all Order,
Law, and Righteousness, accompanied the Sovereignty of the Cæsars.
Augustus, reckoned the best and wisest of them, though he
affected to love and countenance men of parts and accomplishments, yet limited
his favours to such of them as were devoted to Flattery and the Usurpation.
Hence the public Honours conferred by him upon Ateius
Capito, a new man, one of signal Abilities, but a notorious Flatterer;
nay, the Emperor
Edition: current; Page: [165]raised him in opposition to Antistius
Labeo, one who excelled in the same acquirements; one who never departed
from a laudable freedom of speech and spirit, and thence more applauded than
the other, by the public voice: whereas, the suppleness and submission of
Capito rendered him more acceptable to those who bore rule.
The latter by this merit gained the dignity of Consul; the other, for having
too much, was never suffered to rise higher than that of Prætor. How much must
the spirit of Imperial Jealousy encrease afterwards?

Every thing gave these Tyrants fear and offence. Was a
man nobly born and popular? He withdrew the affections of the People, rivalled
the Prince, and threatened a Civil War
q
. Was he akin to Augustus? He had his eye upon the
Sovereignty
r
. Had he a reputation for Arms? He was a living terror to the Prince
s
. Was a great man afraid of popularity, and lived retired? He gained
fame by shunning it, and still was an eyesore
t
; and his best fate was to leave his Country
u
; but where the exile was a considerable man, the executioner generally
followed. Was he virtuous, and his life and morals exact? He was another
Brutus, and by the purity of his manners, upbraided the
vitious behaviour of the Emperor
w
. Was a man sad? It was because the administration prospered
x
.
Edition: current; Page: [166]Did he indulge himself in gayety and feasting? It was
because the Emperor was ill, and his end thought to be near
y
. Was he rich? He was too wealthy for a subject, and great wealth in
private hands boded ill to Princes
z
. Was he poor? He was thence the more enterprizing and desperate
a
. Was he a dull man, and unactive; He only put on the guise of stupidity
and sloth, till he found room for some bloody purpose
b
. Or had he a different character, and was a lively and active man? Then
it was plain he did not so much as feign a desire of private life and recess,
but avowed a bustling Republican Spirit, and to be meddling with the State
c
. Did he live in pomp and magnificence? He studied to overshadow the
Emperor in seats and grandeur
d
. Was he accomplished in science, a Philosopher, or master of Eloquence,
and thence esteemed? The lustre of his Fame gave umbrage to the Prince
e
.

In short, no man could possess any advantage or quality
that rendered him acceptable to God or man, a blessing to his Country, to his
friends, or to himself, but such quality and advantage was sure to
Edition: current; Page: [167]awaken the jealousy and vengeance of these Tyrants,
and procure his doom
f
.

Sect. X.: Reflections upon the Spirit of a
Tyrant. With what Wantonness the Roman Emperors shed the blood of the Roman
People. The blindness of such as assisted the Usurpation ofCæsarandAugustus.

HOW miserable must be the reflections of a Tyrant, if he has any
reflections, that numbers must be wretched (for what wretchedness is not
produced by Tyranny?) that he may make a hideous figure, unsafe and detested?
Every step he takes for his grandeur and security, renders him more
contemptible or abhorred, and therefore more insecure; and the bloody end of
most, abundantly shews, that numerous Guards and Armies are so far from
secureing him, that from them his greatest dread accrues. What a curse it is
upon a thinking Being, to consider himself as an obstacle to every thing lovely
and desirable amongst men: to the Virtue, Liberty and Happiness of all men, to
his own peace and stability, to his own innocence and true glory: that for
every chain he puts upon his People, he multiplies terrors and contempt upon
his own head; and having forfeited their affections, and living in distrust of
those whom he ought chiefly to confide in, relies for his life upon hirelings,
the sons of vice and idleness, or forced from their honest labour to be made
so, and often picked out of streets and gaols? He dreads every man who is great
and brave; and one who fights for him, conquers for him, and saves him, does
but expose himself to jealousy, indignity and martyrdom. His own slaves,
spiritless and cowardly,
Edition: current; Page: [168]cannot serve him, and a man truly valiant is undone
by serving him. The people are apt to admire and magnify military virtue, and
thence the Tyrant hates and dreads such as have it. Charles
the fifth held it a greater honour, to be Count of Catalonia, than King of the Romans: he had reason; the
Catalans were free men and valiant; the Romans poor
monk-ridden slaves.

But I shall find another place in the course of these
Observations to discourse more sully of Armies and Conquests: I shall here only
observe with what wantonness these Tyrants shed the blood of Roman Citizens;
Citizens whose lives were once so valuable, fenced and secured by Laws so
numerous, so sacred, and strong; lives so precious that nothing against the
life and fortune of the meanest Roman could be determined, but by the Romans in
general, assembled in Centuries. These Romans who, while free, became the
masters of mankind, were, by losing their Liberty, become daily victims to
their own domestic Traitors, and miserable Traitors they were; to a
Claudius, a Caligula, a Nero. By the ancient Constitution and Laws of Rome, these
Usurpers were the only persons liable to be put to death, without process, or
form, or penalty. See the Lex Valeria in Livy, and CiceroPro domo
sua.

Had such as were Champions for the exaltation of
Cæsar and Augustus, foreseen what their
race and descendants were to suffer under the Successors of these Usurpers,
would it not have quenched their zeal, would it not have struck them with
horror? Had they foreseen their offspring stooping and groaning under a beastly
bondage, not to the Emperor only, but to his slaves and strumpets; living a
precarious life at the mercy of sycophants; under continual terrors of the
Accusers, or themselves exercising the execrable occupation of such; some
endangered
Edition: current; Page: [169]by the lustre of their name; some by that of their
virtue and capacity, others from that of their wealth; many become Pimps,
Pathics, and Parasites to the Prince; several, upon his authority, prostituting
their persons and quality upon the public Stage; numbers doomed to exile upon
desolate rocks and islands; numbers slain outright, their carcases exposed and
denied the privilege of burial, their fortunes seized from their families; and
all of them liable to the like tragical fate; their wives withal daily exposed
to the lust of the Tyrant, and afterwards made the subject of his Imperial
Sport and Drollery, even before their injured and blushing husbands, nay,
prostituted in the Palace as in the public Stews, and such as passed by invited
in to lie with these illustrious Ladies, as with common harlots, for money.

Had the Partizans of Usurpation foreseen these woful
consequences to their families from it, would it not have changed their hearts
and their conduct? Yet what was easier to be foreseen than the fury and ravages
of a madman or fool unlimited, where chance, and not law, directed the blind
Succession; as did blind will, and not reason, the Administration? But with the
heat of party and present impulse, cool reflection and foresight are
incompatible: it scarce ever happens, that, for future considerations, however
wise, the instant passion, however foolish, is smothered. The Adherents of
Cæsar and Augustus had an immediate
view of greatness, and would not disturb so pleasing an imagination by anxious
care or fear for things future. All the world goes well with those that are
well; and before men can be brought to believe prophecies of misery, they must
begin to feel it. What a child is Man! what a name is Reason! The most frequent
use we make of it, is to reason ourselves out of it, and from it to borrow arms
against itself: just as we have seen
Edition: current; Page: [170]Laws quoted to vindicate the subversion of Law, and
the Holy Gospel of Peace and Love urged in defence of Persecution and
Enmity.

Sect. XI.: Why under such Tyrants, the Senate
continued to subsist.

IT may be inquired why Tyrants so jealous and precipitate, did
not abolish the Senate; and it was once the purpose of Caligula, as it was afterwards that of Nero, to have murdered all the Senators: but in truth it would
have been an enterprize of infinite difficulty and danger, to have attempted
the suppression of that body. It is incredible what stubbornness and force
there is in established Names, Customs and Forms, which often are harder to
destroy than realities and substances; and signs and titles frequently remain,
when the things signified and denominated by them are gone. Thus Popery has
extirpated Christianity, and is called Christianity; and Evangelical Humility
and Forbearance are preached and extolled in the midst of Pride and Flames.

As the Popes pretend to derive all power from the
Gospel, which they pervert and suppress, so did the other Roman Tyrants theirs
from the Senate; as if the ancient free State had still subsisted, and to have
destroyed the Senate, would have been to have abrogated their own title to
Sovereignty. They must likewise have destroyed the Consulship, which was still
reckoned summum Imperium, the supreme Magistracy: with the
Office of Prætor, and every Office, great and small, in the State, with the
title and stile of every Law of Rome, and every Tribunal of Justice there: for,
every Law and every Office depended upon the Senate, or upon the Senate and
People. They must have abolished Learning, History, Records, all Process and
Memory;
Edition: current; Page: [171]nay, the very Military Titles, and Laws of War and
Negotiation; those about the Colonies and Provinces, Customs and Trade; and
have introduced absolute Oblivion, a new Language, and a new Creation.

Now what Power, what Genius upon earth, was equal to
such a prodigious design, that of vacating at once regulations and usages so
infinitely numerous, so long established, become a great part of the public
Language, grown, as it were, to the minds and memories of men, and essential to
Speech and Conversation, as well as to business and protection; and then to
supply such an immense void, with Ordinances, Offices, Terms and manner of
Process, so as to answer all the ends of Society in so vast an Empire? This was
not to be done, nor was it needful: they found their account sufficiently in
breaking the Power and Spirit of the Senate, in reducing it to a skeleton and a
name, and in exercising under that name all their own violences and
exorbitances. The Senate and the People had a venerable sound, and served as a
cloak for power when they themselves had none, and the Emperor had all
g
. The registering of Edicts by the Parliament of Paris is become a
matter of form; but without that form, the Court, as uncontrouled as it is,
does not care to execute an Edict. The Romans still preserved a veneration for
their Senate and Magistrates, and the same was often found in the Armies;
insomuch that as late as the Reign of Commodus, the
soldiers were so enraged at the insolence of Perennis, his
Favourite and Minister, for discharging from their military commands such as
were Patricians and Senators, and for placing in their room others of
Equestrian Rank, that they cut him in pieces.

Edition: current; Page: [172]

Time, however, with the continuance of Tyranny, and
Barbarity its inseparable companion, cancelled by degrees the old names and
forms, after the essence had been long cancelled; and introduced a cloud of
offices and words, of rumbling sounds, and swelling titles, suitable to the
genius of absolute Rule, and as different from the purity of the old Republican
Language, as are Liberty and Politeness from grossness and bondage.

Sect. XII.: How the unrelenting Cruelty of
the Emperors hastened the Dissolution of the Empire. The bad Reigns ofConstantineandConstantius.The good Reign ofJulian.The indiscreet behaviour of the
Christians. Continued Tyranny; and end of the Empire.

TO resume once more the subject of Accusations and the abused
Law of Majesty; They were cankers in the heart of the Empire, which at last
hastened its Dissolution. The Emperors, to gratify their own cruelty, were
continually wasting the public Strength by sacrifices noble and many; and, to
satiate their avarice or that of their creatures, encouraged endless seizures
and confiscations. This crying Oppression was by the Emperor Constantine, before mentioned, carried higher than any of the
Pagan Emperors had ever carried it. Besides his own rapine, which was merciless
and excessive, he glutted his Favourites and Grandees with the spoil and
fortunes of others; as Marcellinus witnesses
h
. His son Constantius followed his example, and was
a more consuming Tyrant than the Father. I have already said something of his
Character and Reign, which was chiefly conducted
Edition: current; Page: [173]by inhuman villains, whose heads and hands were
eternally engaged in the plunder and blood of his People. Such were his
Counsellors, such his Governors of Provinces, which were sucked and devoured to
the bone, and might say with truth, what a noble Dalmatian once told
Tiberius; “Instead of sending us Shepherds to protect our
flocks, you send us Wolves to devour them.” How many Governors in all Countries
have deserved to be hanged, before they reached their Governments, because they
went with design to rob and oppress?

These depredations were restrained during the Reign of
Julian, who had as much capacity, as many virtues and
accomplishments, as could well adorn private life, or a crown: he was brave,
generous, wise, and humane; a Hero, a Philosopher, a Politician, a Friend and
Father to mankind. It is pity such an amiable Character should have any blots;
his had two; he was superstitious even to weakness, and had conceived an
aversion to the Christians altogether unsuitable to his remarkable candor and
equity; an aversion which they themselves improved too much, by a behaviour
unworthy of so great a Prince, much more unworthy of so meek a Religion. They
indeed treated him with eminent spite and outrage, traduced him, libelled him,
and even mobbed him. Nothing could be a sharper Satire upon them, for such
brutish conduct, than the singular meekness with which he bore it. The truth
is, the Christians were then strangely degenerated from the primitive
peaceableness and purity, become licentious and turbulent to the last degree,
and perpetually instigated by the arrogance and ambition of the Bishops, who
were come to contend with arms as well as curses, for the possession of opulent
Churches. It was not uncommon with these ambitious men, to affront and revile
the Emperors to their faces, to publish Invectives against
Edition: current; Page: [174]them, to break the public Peace and to raise frequent
Tumults and Seditions. As they were the most complaisant Courtiers when
pleased; so they were the most implacable Incendiaries when disgusted. All this
was enough to alarm any Prince, and to awaken resentment in the most flegmatic.
Moreover a great part of the wealth and revenue, which used to go towards the
public Charge, particularly to defend the Frontiers against the Barbarians, was
diverted and appropriated to maintain the grandeur and pomp of the great
Prelates; sacerdotes specie religionis fortunas omnes
effundebant, as Tacitus says, upon another
occasion.

As some parts of the behaviour of that great Prince, one
wise and good in most things, but mistaken and even unjust in others, chiefly
towards the Christians, ought to be censured and condemned; the behaviour of
the Christians towards him can never be justified. They insulted him
intolerably, with all the excesses of bitterness and ill-breeding, while he
lived, and slandered and blackened him shamefully when dead; as much as some of
them basely flattered and extolled other Emperors, who, though complaisant and
liberal to the Ecclesiastics, were consuming Tyrants.

It is the business of Truth and of true Religion, to
give even enemies their due, and friends no more than their due. To give
Julian his; if we lay aside his Religion, I doubt whether
we can find upon record one Prince that excelled him, or three that equalled
him. He is indeed a pattern to princes, in spite of the anger and obloquy of
Writers who were apparently animated by a spirit then too common, a spirit
altogether narrow, monkish, and vindictive; such a one as the charitable
Religion of Jesus disclaims, and wants not. To his
benevolent Gospel and Precepts I sincerely wish all men to conform;
Edition: current; Page: [175]but fewer signs of such conformity, or rather greater
signs of the want of it, have I no where seen, than in the Conduct, Discourses,
and Writiengs of such as have railed at others for their religious sentiments,
real or imputed. I wish too that a temper so barbarous and Antichristian had
been entirely confined to the Days of that Emperor, whose Administration will
for ever recommend him to all calm and impartial men, as an astonishing example
of virtue and parts.

The Reign of Jovian, whose intention
seems to have been honest and good, was but short, and followed by those of
Valentinian and Valens; Princes
exceeding furious, suspicious and sanguinary. Under them the old Accusations,
Confiscations and Carnage were revived without mercy, and continued
thenceforward, with few intervals, till the Roman Empire was quite overthrown.
The people in every part of it being quite harrassed and consumed, finding no
relaxation from Oppressors and Accusations, no protection from Law, no refuge
in the Clemency of the Emperors, grew desperate, and revolted to the Goths,
Huns, Vandals, and other Invaders.

Sect. XIII.: The Excellency of a limited Monarchy,
especially of our own.

I Think it is Machiavel who observes, that
two or three weak and bad Princes succeeding each other, are sufficient to ruin
a State, where they govern by mere Will; but it may survive a long succession
of foolish Princes limited by good Laws. Vespasian found
three hundred millions (of our money) wanting to restore the Empire to a
condition of subsisting. Monarchy, according to Plato, is
the best Government, or the worst: to which opinion I subscribe; as I do to
that of Philip De
Edition: current; Page: [176]Comines, that England is the place in the world,
where the Public is most equally administered, and where the people suffer the
least violence. We are blessed with that form of Government which
Tacitus mentions as the most perfect, and thinks the
hardest to be framed; that happy ballance and mixture of interests which
comprehends every interest
i
.

An English Monarch has one advantage which sets him
above any arbitrary Monarch upon earth; he obliges his subjects by being
obliged to them. As he protects them by defending their Property and Laws; so
they, by supporting him, enable him to do it: while they give by choice, and
not by force, they give chearfully. Princes who take all themselves, and leave
nothing to their people to give, can never be beloved by their people. If it be
true that we hate those whom we have hurt, it is equally true, that we are apt
to love those whom we have obliged. Hence God is said, not only to love doing
good, but to love the good that he does.

Arbitrary Princes would doubtless chuse to have the love
and affections of their people, were the same to be acquired by furious and
unaccountable Rule; but this is impossible. Hence dread of their power is all
the share they can expect in the hearts of their subjects; and this is a
compliment which their subjects pay to things the most hideous and vile; to
Serpents; to mad and wild Beasts; to Plagues and Satan; to Pain and Poverty.
But even this miserable compliment is not always paid to such princes: they are
not always dreaded. When their terrors are become habitual, they cease, in a
good measure, to be terrors; the people grow hardened
Edition: current; Page: [177]and desperate; they themselves become scorned; and
contempt, the most abject lot in life, becomes the portion of those who possess
the highest. When Nero asked Subrius
Flavius, one of the Conspirators against his life, from what motives he
had renounced his Allegiance; “It was because I abhorred thee,” said he. The
Consul Vestinius too was known to Nero,
to despise his vile and unmanly spirit; and in the whole detection of that
Conspiracy, and the punishment of the conspirators, nothing was so signal as
the series of contempt poured upon that brutal Tyrant, in the heighth of his
Power, and amidst the terrors of his Tyranny. Nothing, says Tacitus, mortified him so much. But when the Monster was
deposed, he incurred such sovereign scorn, that he was doomed to be stripped
naked, and scourged to death like a slave, with his head fastened in a pillory;
his carcass to be cast afterwards from the Tarpeian Rock, and with a hook in
his nose to be dragged to the Tiber.

Nor could the great reputation of Julius
Cæsar, or that of Augustus, and all their Power,
secure them from popular insults and despight. The mœchum
calvum, and videsne ut cinædus orbem digito temperet;
were contumelies which even their greatness could not escape. Mithridates King of Armenia, when despoiled of his Kingdom,
experienced by the behaviour of his People, how much they reverenced him; they
even assaulted him with reproaches and blows
k
. When the Emperor Vitellius was led along to the
slaughter, with his hands bound behind him, his habit all torn, and himself a
filthy spectacle; he found much the like usage. Numbers wounded him with
reproaches; but none was found to bewail him; and the populace railed at him
when dead, with the
Edition: current; Page: [178]same baseness of heart, with which they had flattered
him living
l
.

DISCOURSE VIII.: Of the general Debasement of Spirit and Adulation
which accompany Power unlimited.

Sect. I.: The motives of Flattery considered.
Its vileness, and whence it begins.

I SHALL now say something of the extreme Debasement of the
Romans under the Emperors. Flattery ever rises in proportion to Power and Fear.
Where Law and Liberty reign, and men hold not their Property and Lives at the
mercy of one or a few; this security begets in them a pride and stubbornness
inconsistent with Servility and Adulation. Men do not flatter such as they dare
own to be no better than themselves, or such as have no power to hurt them; nor
will they pay over-much reverence to great Titles which are not accompanied
with great Power, nor supported by Superstition. For Superstition enslaves as
effectually as real Power, and therefore confers it; nor is Tyranny ever so
complete as when the chief Magistrate is chief Pontiff, as were the Soldans of
Egypt and Bagdat; or, which is the next thing, can create and depose him, as do
the Turkish Emperors. But where men hold their fortunes and lives at the mere
mercy of another, they will fear him as much as they love themselves,
Edition: current; Page: [179]and flatter him, as much as they fear him
a
. If his Power be limited, their Flattery will be limited; but
boundless, if his Authority be so. Thus court and sycophancy prevail less under
a mixed Monarchy, than under one that is despotic; in an Aristocracy less than
there; and less still in a popular State. Perfect equality quite destroys it;
complete Sovereignty raises it to the highest.

The more foolish and wicked a Prince is, the more
Incense he will have; it is the surest way of pleasing a Tyrant, as it
sanctifies his Iniquities, and represents him to himself as worthy of all his
Grandeur and equal to all the highest Offices of Empire. Tiberius, who was a Prince of great penetration, hated
Flattery, because he knew it to be so; as he knew that they who paid him most,
the Senate and Grandees, dreaded, and therefore hated his Power; as he, who
understood perfectly the nature and blessing of Liberty, would have dreaded and
hated any man in his place, had he been in theirs. He knew that Flattery and
Hate often go together; so that they who possess the greatest Hate, profess the
greatest Affection. It is as much as their lives are worth, to manifest any
tokens of Aversion; and the stronger it is, it will require the more Art and
Assiduity to hide it. Julius Cæsar was loaded with all
sorts and every excess of Honours, some that were divine, with design to make
him odious, while they who conferred them abhorred him, and were concerting
schemes to destroy him. With the same view the like artifices were practised by
the Senate towards his Successor Octavius, afterwards
Augustus, concerning whom the equivocal saying of
Cicero, could not but be remembered by Tiberiusb
, “they should extol the
Edition: current; Page: [180]Youth, and take him off.” Hence though Tiberius was irreconcileable to public Liberty, he abominated
Flattery
c
. He saw that Flattery was the mere effect of Bondage, and suiting only
with the spirit of Slaves; and though he would not part with the Sovereignty
(notwithstanding he often talked of it, as well as pretended great backwardness
to accept it) yet he was ashamed of the vile and slavish abjectness of the
Romans
d
.

But neither under Tiberius was there
any security in abstaining from Flattery; he was a Prince infinitely jealous,
and could brook no sort of opposition, nor even independence; and it was both
necessary and dangerous to flatter him; but, in my opinion, not so dangerous as
necessary: I mean, to such as purely consulted their own safety, and to escape
the rage of the Tyrant. It is true, he despised Flatterers; but he hurt them
not; and it was natural for him to think (suspicious as he was) that such as
would not flatter him, scorned him. It is certain he never forgave free
speakers, never could endure men of bold spirit, but, first or last, pursued
them to destruction. It was perillous, says Tacitus, to
practise no Flattery, and perillous to practise too much
e
. L. Piso had inveighed against the corruptions of
the State, particularly against the pestilent pursuits of the Impleaders, who
were daily arraigning, and circumventing, and menacing all men; he even
threatened to quit Rome. Tiberius bore this calmly, nay, he
descended to mollify him with kind words. But in a soul like his, brooding over
Vengeance, though he had suppressed the sallies of Wrath, the deep impressions
remained; Piso was a
Edition: current; Page: [181]good while afterwards charged with Treason, and, but
for a natural death, which opportunely intervened, must have suffered the pains
of Treason. Asinius Gallus incurred his rage for a motion
in Senate which had really a compliment in it. Tiberius had
in a Letter to the Fathers complained, that from the plots and snares of his
enemies, he led a life full of dread and apprehensions. Gallus proposed to address the Prince, that he would explain
his fears to the Senate, and permit them to remove the causes; this incensed
him. Gallus too had piqued him before, and was suspected by
him of aspiring views; and though he had notoriously flattered him, he could
not by it redeem his life.

As all Corruptions in a State begin commonly from the
Grandees (or rather they are beginners of all Corruption) so the Grandees are
the most signal Flatterers; they are most in the eye of a Prince, they are the
most obnoxious to his jealousy, and thence the most prone to flatter him
f
. A Prince who governs or would govern by mere Will, must countenance
and employ such as ask no reasons for what he does; but commend all he does;
and the more they have to get or lose, the lower they must stoop, the more they
must praise
g
. For this vile servitude of theirs they make reprisals upon the people,
and are as terrible to those below them, as fawning to those above them; for
the most prostitute Slaves, are the most insolent Tyrants, and it is from the
same baseness of spirit that men oppress and flatter; it was truly said of
Caligula, “that there never lived a more complaisant Slave,
nor a more cruel and detestable Master.” Thus
Edition: current; Page: [182]Flattery is propagated, and infects all degrees of
men. The Prince awes the Grandees, and by the Grandees is flattered; the
Grandees oppress and terrify the people; and thence the people dread and adore
the Grandees. The Bashaws are slaves to the great Turk; the people slaves to
the Bashaws.

The insolence of slavish spirits is by Tacitus exemplified in Vitellius, among
many other instances. He was always the foremost in Flattery; ever assaulting
every worthy Patriot with reproaches, and ever struck silent when repulsed;
agreeably to the genius of Sycophants, to be both insulting and cowardly. This
man, however, prospered by Prostitution. He had great employments under
Tiberius, he was a great Favourite in the two succeeding
Reigns, he was thrice Consul and once Censor. Nor did the man want good talents
and qualifications; in the Government of Provinces, says Tacitus, he exercised the integrity of a primitive Roman. But
his dread of Caligula, and complaisance to Claudius, changed him into a filthy Slave, and he is handed
down to posterity as a pattern of the most infamous Flattery: The just reward
of his servile submission. His first and best actions were forgot; his last and
worst remembered; and the excellencies of his younger years obliterated by an
old age drenched in servitude and iniquity. Besides his adoring Claudius as a God, he carried one of Messalina’s sandals in his bosom continually, frequently kissed
it; and amongst his houshold Gods placed golden Statues of Pallas and Narcissus, the Emperor’s freed
slaves. This man was, I think, farther to Vitellius
afterwards Emperor. Such men such Princes delight in; regibus
boni quam mali suspectiores sunt, semperque his aliena virtus formidolosa
est: says Sallust.

Edition: current; Page: [183]

Sect. II.: Men of elevated Minds irreconcileable
to Arbitrary Power, and thence suspected by it. The Court paid to it always
insincere, sometimes expedient, but seldom observes any bounds.

AGRIPPA told Augustus, according to
Dion Cassius, that it was impossible for a man of great
spirit and resolution, to be other than a lover of Liberty, and an enemy in his
heart to an absolute master. Agrippa himself was that sort
of man; he had courage enough to advise that Prince to resign the Sovereignty,
and restore public Liberty; such in truth was his credit and bravery, that
Augustus thought himself no otherwise safe, than either by
killing him, or taking him for his son-in-law. The Emperor did more than give
him his daughter; he assumed him partner in the Tribunitial Power, which, as
that Usurper and his Successors managed it, was, in effect, the Dictatorial
Power. The other great men of Rome he suspected and hated; though in vanity and
for the praise of Posterity, he left them his heirs in the third degree
h
; Augustus and Tiberius judged
too well, to imagine that the illustrious Senators and Chiefs of Rome, men who
had scorned the alliance and affinity of Kings, nay, treated Kings as their
creatures and dependents, could like a blind dependence upon one of their own
Citizens, who by usurpation and violence had made himself an enemy to all. Even
in the Reign of Tiberius there were Romans who thought
themselves as good as him; Cneius Piso, for example, scarce
gave place to him, and despised his sons, as men far beneath himself. But
Edition: current; Page: [184]his haughty spirit cost him his life; for though
Tiberius used him as a proper instrument to thwart and
overthrow Germanicus, he afterwards turned that very
service to the destruction of Piso.

Affection can never accompany a submission which is
forced, nor men submit willingly to a Power which they think they have
themselves a right to exercise. Hence the compliments and praises of these
eminent Romans towards the Emperors, are generally by Tacitus derived from Flattery; though sometimes necessary, and
sometimes well intended; necessary, when used for their own preservation; and
well intended, when employed to instil into the Prince virtuous lessons of
Government. Marcus Terentius was perhaps justifiable, when
in defence of his life, which was at stake, he made that high-flown compliment
to Tiberius; “To thee the Gods have granted the supreme
disposal of things, and to us have left the glory of obedience.” The Senators
also did well in magnifying some popular Acts of Nero, that
his youthful mind being thus incited by the Glory arising from light things,
might court it in things which were greater. And Thrasea
Petus was justifiable, when in his speech about Antistius the Prætor, arraigned for Treason for lampooning the
Emperor, he extolled that Prince’s mercy, in order to make him merciful.

But as that which is only good in some certain degrees
and exigences, seldom stops there; so this same Flattery, no wise blameable
under some circumstances, grew scandalous and excessive; it kept pace with all
the phrenzy and cruelties of these outrageous and inhuman Tyrants; and by it
their cruelties and phrenzy were encouraged. The more mischievous and vile they
were, the more they were adored. Dread of their fury had seized the souls of
men; nor was any remedy sought against their fury
Edition: current; Page: [185]but that of Flattery. Men of slavish minds always
began the detestable rout; their example drew others after them; the lovers of
liberty found it impossible to resist the many, and unsafe to distinguish
themselves by opposition. Interest swayed some, example others, fear all, and
at last it became a common strife who should be foremost in the race to
Servitude. All public spirit, all regard to the glory and good of Rome, the
inseparable characteristic of the old free Romans, was now lost and forgot; it
was converted into fear and anxiety of every man for himself. This will ever be
the case when a Prince, armed with sufficient Powers, sets up his own interest
against that of the State; particulars having no longer any thing to do with
the public, will study only to secure themselves.

Sect. III.: The excessive Power of the Imperial
freed Slaves; with the scandalous Submission and Honours paid them by the
Romans.

AS Tyranny produces abject fear and anxiety in particulars for
themselves, so from this selfish fear and anxiety come the beginning and
progress of universal Servitude, the extinction of all Patriotism and honest
zeal, the power of corruption, and the symptoms of a State hastening to ruin
and desolation. All the good or evil which could befal any Roman, lay wholly in
the breast and option of the Prince; and hence the study of every man to humour
the Prince, or the Slaves who governed him; for governed he generally was by
slaves the vilest and most pestilent; yes, the whole Empire, that Empire that
contained a great share of the Globe, and terrified almost the whole, was
swayed, sold, oppressed, and exhausted by slaves bought from the chain and the
oar. Claudius not only declared that affairs
Edition: current; Page: [186]adjudged by his Receivers should be held equally
valid with those adjudged by himself, but got the same established by a solemn
Decree of Senate. Now these Receivers of the Emperors were his manumized
Slaves, who under that title often governed Provinces; he raised the authority
of these vermin to a pitch equal with that of the Sovereign and the Laws.
Felix Governor of Judea was a freed slave, the husband of
three Queens, and the brother of Pallas another freed
slave, who controlled the Emperor, lay with the Empress, and was master of the
Empire; so that Nero said pertinently of him, when he
turned him out of office, “that Pallas went to abdicate the
Sovereignty.”

Behold the debasement of the great and venerable Roman
Senate! It is not enough that they flatter the Emperor, and heap upon him
Powers and Honours so great and manifold, that at last they have none for
themselves, hardly any for him; they must likewise adore, and enrich, and exalt
the fugitives and off-scourings of the earth, insects naturally doomed to the
vilest offices of the kitchen, stable, and privies. The Romans, Lords of the
World, must put their necks under the feet of the dregs of human race. For a
contemptible project of that same Pallas, about punishing
Ladies who married slaves, Bareas Soranus Consul elect, the
first Magistrate in the Roman world, moved the Senate to reward him with the
ornaments of Prætor, the next Civil Office in the State, and a present of near
an hundred thousand pounds. To this motion it was added by Cornelius Scipio, that Pallas should have
public thanks, that he who was descended from the old Kings of Arcadia, should
to the service of the public thus postpone that his ancient Nobility, and deign
to be reckoned amongst the Emperor’s Ministers. But Claudius averred,
Edition: current; Page: [187]that Pallas would rest content
with the honours of the Prætorship, and, rejecting the present, chuse to live
in his usual poverty. The Decree passed, was engraved in brass, and publicly
hung up; a pompous Decree, in which a fellow, lately a baresooted slave, now
worth near eight millions, was magnified for observing the laudable self-denial
and parcimony of the primitive ages. Observe the strange inversion of all order
and sense! dignity debased; infamy exalted; how low the awful authority of the
Senate descended! how vilely the function of a Consul prostituted! how
ignominiously the glorious name of Scipio employed! how
abominably the ornaments of Magistracy defiled! an ordinance of State, big with
servitude and lies! what stupidity in the Emperor, what insolence in the slave,
and what a melancholy failure of all Virtue, Truth, and Liberty amongst all
degrees of men! It was, in truth, a compliment made to a slave by a body of
slaves, as Pliny well observes. We may guess at the
villainy and evil deeds of the man by the enormous Honours that were paid him,
though we had no other rule or proof, as we have proofs enough. No such violent
court was ever paid to Seneca; and Tigellinus had much more weight and authority than
Burrus.

Real goodness and merit beget in all good men real
friendship and affection; and real affection is never so loud nor shewy as
affection assumed. Where we sincerely like and esteem, we are not afraid of
suspicion in the person esteemed, nor spend much breath and ceremony to
convince him. But where we are conscious of our own insincerity, our
professions are pompous and wordy. It was absolutely impossible that these vile
Upstarts should love the Senate, or any great men, great in blood, or fortune,
or virtue; or the Senate or any great Roman could love such vile Upstarts; but
we see what disguises
Edition: current; Page: [188]fear and falshood can put on! Impartial posterity,
which neither fears the Senate nor Pallas, can perceive
nothing in the Honours by them conferred upon him, but the infamy of both
perpetuated. Nor was Claudius the only Emperor who was thus
led in bondage by his franchised bondmen; others submitted to the same
vassalage, to the same infamous Counsellors; Plerique
principes (says Pliny) libertorum
erant servi; borum consiliis, borum nutu regebantur. Was not the world
finely governed, and humankind completely happy; when the universal Lord was
swayed by the lust and nod of creatures just redeemed from the infamy of whips
and fetters? The mighty Cæsar, to whom the Romans owed all
their ensuing misery and bondage, began the exaltation of such sons of earth;
and, in contempt of censure, declared, that, “if he had employed Highwaymen and
Assassins to support his grandeur, he would in return have honoured them with
the same favour.” A true confession, but methinks not very politic; we have
seen already whether his worthy Successors did not actually do so, and what
were the Instrumenta regni, the bloody tools and machinery
of absolute Rule. Polycletus, a manumized slave of
Nero’s, when sent by his master to inspect the State of
Britain, travelled with such an immense train, that he was a burden to great
nations, even those of Italy and Gaul.

Sect. IV.: The excessive Flattery of the Senate,
how ill judged.

THERE was no mean in the Flattery of the Senate. They might have
been good Courtiers, without being so abandoned Courtiers. There are instances
of their carrying questions against the spirit of the Court and the efforts of
Favourites, in
Edition: current; Page: [189]the worst Reigns. Thus, in spight of all the power
and caballing of Agrippina, they expelled Tarquitius Priscus, a creature of hers, from the Senate, in
detestation of his base attack upon the life of Statilius
Taurus, in subserviency to the Empress, who yearned after the Wealth and
fine Gardens of that illustrious Senator. Thus too in the case of
Antistius the Prætor, who had composed some virulent Verses
against Nero, and exposed them at a great entertainment;
though he was impleaded of Treason by Cossutianus Capito
son-in-law to that powerful minion Tigellinus, and though
Junius Marullus, the Consul elect, moved that he might be
doomed to die after the rigorous manner of antiquity; the Senate followed the
milder motion of Thrasea Petus for confiscation and exile.
Nor would they depart from the sentence even after they had received
Nero’s Letter about it, though in it he manifested high
indignation.

They might have made some other efforts of this kind,
where they made none; on the contrary, they gave away their Liberties and
Voices faster than they could have been taken. But the honest boldness of
Thrasea broke the bondage which hung upon the minds of
others; so much can the example of one worthy man do even in an assembly
devoted to corruption and servitude! It is true, Thrasea
paid a severe after-reckoning, and it was the apprehension of that which
stopped the mouths of others, or opened them only to fawn. But who would not
chuse the reputation, and integrity of a Patriot, that of a Thrasea, even at the expence of his fate; rather than the
fortune and favour of the sycophant Vitellius, with the
abjectness of his life, and infamy of his name?

Edition: current; Page: [190]

Sect. V.: The free Judgment of Posterity a
powerful warning to Princes, to reign with moderation and to detest Flatterers.
The Name and Memory of the Roman Tyrants how treated.

ALL men have some vanity, and thence some fondness for fame; if
they would acquire it, and avoid infamy, they must square their actions to the
judgment of Posterity. With Posterity, little evasions, false colourings, and
chicane will not pass for reasons, though they may with our cotemporaries, who
are often influenced by friendships, often engaged in parties, often warmed and
misled by passion and partiality. Death and Time destroy all artifices,
dissipate all mists, and unveil mysteries; the intentions of men with all their
motives and pursuits are then scanned and laid open. The flights of Flattery,
will not then be termed fondness for the Prince, nor the efforts of Ambition
miscalled public zeal. Claudius and Pallas,
Tiberius and Sejanus, Nero and Tigellinus; men so caressed, applauded and worshipped during
their life and power, men who then employed all tongues in their praises, do
now fill, and have long filled the mouths of all men with detestation, and
their hearts with abhorrence. What avail now their craft and subornations,
their power and high posts? Does the awe of purple, or the violence of the
sword, do Prætorian Guards and perverted Laws, secure their memory, as they did
their persons? Do I, for example, fear their charges of Treason, or the vile
breath of their Informers, while I treat them as sanguinary Monsters, as the
Tyrants, Pests and Oppressors of the earth, as public Curses, and Murderers in
cold blood?

Edition: current; Page: [191]

These Tyrants and their Flatterers, though they pushed
both Tyranny and Flattery as far as they would go, have not been able, with all
their Arts and Terrors, to stifle the memory of men, nor restrain the speech.
They are handed down to us under their proper titles. The EmperorNero we seldom say; but the
TyrantNero is in every one’s mouth;
and the idea of a sycophant ever accompanies the name of Vitellius. His great credit and offices are forgot, or
remembered only to his infamy. What a check must History and the Censure of
Posterity be to a Prince that has any reflection! Had Tiberius,
Claudius, Caligula, and other Imperial Monsters considered what frightful
lights they were like to be drawn in to future times, it would have spoiled
their pleasure in tyrannizing, and made them hate their Flatterers, who
persuaded them that all men, at least the best men, spoke of them as they
themselves spoke. With regard to Fame and Posterity it had been better for
these wretches that they had never been born, as well as happy for human-kind;
yet no man was ever a greater drudge for Fame than Nero;Erat illi æternitatis perpetuæque famæ cupido, sed
inconsulia, says Suetonius. Witness his laborious
fatigues in the Theatre and Circus, continued day after day, and often nights
and days, for the reputation of a good Singer, Harper, and Coachman.
Caligula aspired to the like glory, and was a notable
Fencer and assiduous Dancer, as well as a Charioteer
i
. Laudable Ambition for a Prince, and as just and high as that of many
others!

Tiberius also wished and prayed for the praises and
affectionate remembrance of posterity
k
. How
Edition: current; Page: [192]well he succeeded, we all know. He is detested as one
of the most dangerous, false, and deliberate Tyrants that ever afflicted men;
nay, he was no sooner known to be dead, than the people broke forth into joy
and execrations; some cried, “Into the Tiber with Tiberius:
others besought mother earth and the infernal Gods to allot him no mansion but
amongst the damned and accursed:” others threatened to drag his body with hooks
to the charnel of malefactors. And when his corps was going to be removed from
Misenum to Rome, every one cried aloud, that it should rather be carried to the
town of Atella, to be in the Amphitheatre there thrown into a fire, till it
were half burned. Such were the marks of remembrance he had, and deserved, from
the people! The other two are treated as frantic butchers, or rather as two mad
dogs delighted with carnage and worrying, bent and active to kill and destroy.
What is it to us that they were Princes and Emperors? Men of sense find no
magic in names, but regard Monsters as Monsters, whatever titles Fortune or
Flatterers gave them, or they themselves took.

It is thus Tyrants suffer the vengeance of afterages;
and terrible vengeance it is to such as are tender of their Renown, and seek
Immortality, as most Princes do; and indeed have it forced upon them, since
they stand too high, and do too much not to be remembered. Hence they ought to
be more afraid of future censure, which is generally well grounded and will
certainly last, than of temporary praise, which is often false, consequently
fleeting, at best to be suspected.

Edition: current; Page: [193]

Sect. VI.: How lamentably Princes are debauched
and misled by Flatterers.

NOW if Tyrants are abhorred, how much abhorrence is due to
Flatterers, who often change Princes into Tyrants, and make Tyrants worse than
they would be? Tiberius assumed the Sovereignty with great
diffidence; and his natural wariness would have probably made him mild against
his nature, had not the Romans so readily offered him their necks and their
persons to bondage. But when he found them devoted to Slavery, he used them
like Slaves, and having nothing to fear from them, he only followed the vile
bent of his own spirit
l
.

Domitian rejoiced when he found that Agricola had left him coheir with his wife and daughter; he
vainly thought it done out of judgment and choice, and in pure regard to his
person. So much was he corrupted and blinded by continual Flattery, as to be
utterly ignorant, that no Prince, but a bad one, was ever by a father tender of
his issue and family, assumed into heirship with them, as Pliny the younger well observes.

Nero was in terrible agonies after he had murdered his
Mother; he dreaded the soldiery, the Senate, and the people; but when, instead
of danger and resentment, he met with flattering speeches from the Officers,
flattering Decrees from the Senate, popular Processions, Applauses, public
Devotions paid to all the Deities, and universal acquiescence; his native
insolence became more swelled; and, from this general Servitude, assuming the
pride of victory, he ascended the Capitol, offered sacrifices, and thenceforth
surrendered himself to the full sway of all his exorbitant lusts. When he had
caused these
Edition: current; Page: [194]two noble Romans, Plautus and
Sylla, to be assassinated, he wrote to the Senate without
mentioning the execution, only that they were two men of turbulent spirits, and
what mighty care it cost him to secure the State. Instantly the obsequious
fathers degraded from the Senate these dead Senators, and ordained public
Prayers and Sacrifices. Nero, upon the receiving of this
Decree, and finding that all his brutal iniquities and acts of blood passed for
so many feats of renown, grew emboldened to do a thing which even
Nero till then durst not do, and turned away the virtuous
Octavia his wife, her by whom he held the Empire
m
. Nay, when soon after the Imperial butcher had ordered the blood of
that illustrious Innocent to be shed, thanks and oblations were again presented
to the Deities, by an ordinance of Senate. A particular, says Tacitus, which with this view I recount, that whoever reads the
events of those times in this or any other History, may take it for granted,
that as often as the Emperors commanded acts of cruelty, banishments and
assassinations, so often thanks and sacrifices were decreed to the Gods; and
those Solemnities which were of old the marks and consequences of public
victories and public felicity, were now so many sad marks of public slaughter
and desolation
n
.

This was remarkably verified afterwards as well as now;
when Nero, upon the discovery of Piso’s
conspiracy, had spilt rivers of blood, and slain men by heaps; the fuller the
city was of executions and funerals, the fuller too were the Temples of
sacrifices. One had lost a son, one a brother,
Edition: current; Page: [195]or kinsman, or friend in this general butchery; and
the greater their loss, the more gayety they shewed, adorned their houses with
Laurel, frequented Temples with Thanksgiving, embraced the knees of the Tyrant,
and worried his hand with kisses. Nero took all this for so
many sincere tokens of affection and joy; when, in truth, their Congratulations
and Flattery were just in proportion to their severe sorrow.

Sect. VII.: The pestilent tendency of flattering
Counsels, and the Glory of such as are sincere.

WHAT a poisonous thing is Flattery? By it Princes are misled
into a persuasion that all their measures of Oppression, all their acts of
Frenzy and Rage, are just measures of Government, that forced praise is real
affection, that they themselves are popular when they are abhorred; and thus
they are kept from repenting or amending, because, relying upon the assurances
of Flatterers, they cannot find that they have done amiss, or see any thing to
be mended. The Flatterers of Nero ridiculed Seneca, and railed at him, and persuaded that Prince he wanted
no Tutors. The same did the Flatterers of Commodus in
relation to the old Counsellors; which had been his father’s. Nero and Commodus followed the advice of
their Flatterers, and reigned mischievously, and died tragically, and their
memories are abhorred. Thus they are kept hoodwinked and secure, till the first
thing they open their eyes upon, is their Throne tottering or overturned, and
perhaps an executioner’s knife at their breast; and even when things are come
to that extremity, there will be those to misrepresent and flatter, as in the
case of Galba; a few moments before he was massacred, he
was soothed with false assurances of security
o
.

Edition: current; Page: [196]

How pernicious too is such falsification even to those
that practise it; since though they mean it out of selfishness and for
security, yet by sanctifying upon all occasions the Oppression and Destruction
of others, they do but invite their own! Whereas were matters laid honestly
before Princes, that this measure is a Grievance, that an Oppression, and that
whatever is unjust to others is dangerous to themselves, they would prefer
caution with safety, to humour and wilfulness accompanied with peril; they
would grow into a habit of doubting, deliberateing and enquiring; of submitting
their own judgment to that of others; of remembering that they are what they
are for the sake of their People, and that they ought to have no Will, nor
Interest, but the public Will and the public Interest.

Had Nero pursued the good Rules of Government dictated
by Seneca and Burrus, and proposed by
himself in his first Speech to the Senate; had he avoided the counsels of that
bloody and detestable sycophant Tigellinus, and of others
like him, he might have ended his reign with as much renown as he began it, and
left a memory revered as much as it is now detested. And would the Confidents
of Princes, instead of debasing themselves into the characters of Parasites,
instead of abusing their trust, and bringing infamy upon their masters and
themselves; would they, instead of this, give upright counsel, such as conduced
to the good of all men, they would, besides the praise of well-doing, take the
best method to secure themselves, their fortunes and families in the general
security: or, should they be rewarded with disgrace, or even with death, they
would have the approbation of their own Consciences, the applauses of the
Living, and the praises of Posterity. But while they sooth the Prince in his
jealousies and violence, and encourage him in destroying such as he, or such as
they fear or dislike, they set him a lesson and example
Edition: current; Page: [197]for turning the edge of his fury upon themselves,
whenever he becomes prompted by his humour or caprice; a case often happening,
and always to be apprehended. The Courtiers and Flatterers of the Emperor
Caracalla, to humour him, concurred with him in the murder
of his brother Geta; and, after that murder, though
committed by his own hand, were themselves murdered for their wicked
complaisance, and amongst them Letus his Favourite and
Confident. Yet he was so far from remorse for shedding his brother’s blood,
that he massacred every friend and adherent to his brother, to the number of
twenty thousand, in a short time. Tiberius, of all his
Friends, Confidents and Counsellors, scarce let one escape a violent end,
unless where by a natural death they prevented it: and they who had been the
Ministers of his Tyranny, hardly ever failed to fall by it. He indeed protected
them from the resentment and prosecution of others; but he generally poured
vengeance upon them himself
p
. Vescularius Atticus and Julius
Marinus, were two of his most ancient intimates; they had accompanied him
during his retirement at Rhodes, and never forsook him in his retreat at
Capreæ; they had abetted his Tyranny, and assisted him in his cruel Counsels,
nor does it appear that they had ever offended him by any good Counsel.
Vescularius was his manager and inter-agent in the
perfidious plot to destroy that noble Roman Libo Drusus;
and by the co-operation of Marinus, Sejanus had worked the
overthrow of Curtius Atticus. Was not all this merit
enough, at least, to have redeemed their own lives? It was not; they fell
themselves victims to his cruelty, as to satiate his cruelty they had made
others fall: ad
Edition: current; Page: [198]mortem aguntur: quo lætius acceptum, says
Tacitus,sua exempla in consultores
recidisse; their tragical end was followed with the more joy, for that
upon their own heads had thus recoiled the precedents of their own traiterous
devising. In truth, these instruments of cruelty are generally abhorred by the
Princes that use them. Anicetus Admiral of the Gallies to
Nero, conducted and perpetrated the murder of his mother
Agrippina, and for a short space continued in some small
favour with the Prince; but was afterwards held in greater aversion; for, says
Tacitus, the Ministers of evil Counsels are by Princes
beheld as men whose looks continually upbraid them
q
. Such too was the fate of Cleander under
Commodus, who loved him, was governed by him, and cut off
his head. How differently related is the fate of Burrus,
suspected to have been poisoned by Neror
: Mighty and lasting was the sorrow of Rome for his death, for the
Romans remembered his virtues; and a little before
s
, While the calamities of the Public were growing daily more heavy and
bitter, the resources of the Public were diminished, and Burrus died. How nobly too is the tragedy of Seneca recounted! it is too long to find room here.

I shall end this Discourse with observing, that as Flattery is the effect of
dread and falshood; as the most tyrannical Princes are most flattered, and men
of the falsest minds are the greatest Flatterers; this consideration should be
a lesson to Princes and great men, to weigh the actions they do against the
praises they receive; and if they find themselves righteous, they may conclude
their panegyrics to be sincere. Let them reflect upon their acts of benevolence
or oppression, and how they have used their people.
Edition: current; Page: [199]They would also do well to examine what sort of men
they are who praise them; whether men of virtue and honour, lovers of truth,
lovers of their Country, and of human-kind; or whether they are those unlimited
Sycophants, whose custom and rule it is to extol at random all the sayings and
doings of Princes, worthy and unworthy
t
.

DISCOURSE IX.: Upon Courts.

Sect. I.: Of Freedom of Speech; and how
reasonable it is.

TO the foregoing Discourse upon Flattery, I thought it might not
be unsuitable to subjoin another upon Courts, the place where that pestilent
and unmanly practice is wont chiefly to prevail.

During those Reigns which I have been describing, when
Power was established in Terrors, and Subjection converted into Abasement,
small was the wonder that restraint upon speech was no inconsiderable link in
the public chain, and care taken that such as presumed to breathe aught but
vassalage, should not breathe at all. This was wretched policy, barbarous, and
impossible to be practised. The passions are not to be extinguished but with
life; and to forbid people, especially a suffering people, to speak, is to
forbid them to feel.

It is not indeed to be expected that men should be
suffered to meet together tumultuously, in order to publish their mutual
Discontents and Wrongs, and to inflame one another; but complaints uttered in
their families, or dropped occasionally, or communicated
Edition: current; Page: [200]to a friend, can never affect Authority. The more men
express of their hate and resentment, perhaps the less they retain; and
sometimes they vent the whole that way; but these passions, where they are
smothered, will be apt to fester, to grow venomous, and to discharge themselves
by a more dangerous organ than the mouth, even by an armed and vindictive hand.
Less dangerous is a railing mouth, than a heart filled and enflamed with
bitterness and curses; and more terrible to a Prince ought to be the secret
execrations of his people than their open revilings, or than even the assaults
of his enemies. Of all the blood spilt under Tiberius and
the following Tyrants for Words (and for no greater cause a deluge was spilt)
how small a part conduced to their security? none that I remember; but every
drop was an indelible stain upon their persons and upon their Government; every
drop derived hatred, and consequently weakness and danger, upon it. Rigorous
punishment for small faults, or for such as in the common opinion pass for
none, is a mark of ill politics; it makes the spirit of the Administration look
hideous and dreadful, and it renders every man who finds himself liable to the
like faults, a capital enemy. Surely it ought to be a maxim in Government, that
errors which can have no consequences, ought to have no punishment.

Oliver Cromwell, who seems to have seen far into the
heart of man, was little affected with the hard words and invectives of
particulars, and as high as he carried Authority, left people to talk and rail.
The same is true of the late Regent of France, one who well knew human nature,
and the nature of power; it was then common to see Frenchmen swagger and storm
as freely as an old Roman would have done against an unpopular Magistrate. In
truth, where no liberty is allowed to speak of Governors, besides that of
praising them, their praises will be little believed. Their tenderness
Edition: current; Page: [201]and aversion to have their conduct examined, will be
apt to prompt people to think their conduct guilty or weak, to suspect their
management and designs to be worse than perhaps they are, and to become
turbulent and seditious, rather than be forced to be silent. When nothing but
incense and applause will be accepted or borne; all plain dealing, all honest
counsel and true information, will be at an end, and banished, to make room for
deceitful adorations, for pleasing and pernicious falshoods. If Princes whose
memory is disliked, had allowed their subjects and co-temporaries to have
spoken truth to them, or of them, probably Posterity would not have spoke so
much ill, as it is probable they would not then have deserved it; and I am apt
to believe, that it had been better for all of them to have permitted all that
could have been said, than to have missed hearing what it imported them to have
heard; better to have heard the disgusts and railings of their people, than
that their people were armed against them, or revolted from them; a fate which
has befallen some of them, who, having had Courtiers over-complaisant, or ears
over-tender, learnt that they were dethroned before they had learnt that they
were not beloved; and found scarce any interval between the acclamations of
Flatterers and the strokes of an Executioner. Such is the genius of Courts,
where ill tidings are generally concealed or disguised; such too often the
silence and soothings of Courtiers, who tell only or chiefly what is pleasing;
and such sometimes the pride and impatience of Princes, that they will suffer
nothing which ruffles their passions, to approach their understanding.

Sect. II.: The Spirit of Courtiers what; some
good ones.

IT is something else than zeal for telling truth, that carries men to Court,
and keeps them in it; to raise an interest, or to preserve it, is the more
Edition: current; Page: [202]prevailing passion. And because whoever sets his foot
there with any view to place and favour, is always sure of competitors, be his
person or pretences what they will, ever so considerable or inconsiderable; his
chief care will be to conquer opposers, and secure himself; and as there ever
will be some opposition, real or apprehended, that care will be constant. Hence
the spirit of a Court, selfish, suspicious and unfriendly; and hence the supple
spirit of Courtiers, to love and hate, court and avoid, praise and persecute
the same person with notable suddenness, just as he is promoted or disgraced,
and can help or hurt, or is to be deprived of all capacity to do either. To be
well with the subsisting Power, with him who holds the reins of Authority, and
distributes, or causes to be distributed the blessings and terrors of Power, is
the main pursuit; his motions are chiefly watched, his affections and aversions
are studied and adopted; and thus a smile or a frown from the Throne, or from
one who is next the Throne, is eagerly catched up, seizes the faces of a whole
drawing-room in an instant, and is handed down, with signal uniformity, through
all classes of men, from a Grandee to the lowest Clerk in an Office.

A Court is a great Exchange, where one or a few have favours to dispose of,
where many resort to procure them, and where all therefore strive to outgo in
the ways of pleasing every one who has the same aim, and study every method to
render themselves acceptable. Hence their obsequious Countenances, Flattery,
Insinuations, and Zeal, some passions concealed, some disguised, and others
personated; hence too their attachment to such as can help to promote them, and
their neglect of such as cannot; hence with them good fortune, however
unworthily placed, always passes for merit, and abilities ever sink with power;
and hence their falsehood, ingratitude and courteous behaviour.

Edition: current; Page: [203]

That this is true of the herd of Courtiers, I believe
will be allowed. Without doubt there are exceptions, and men of great honour,
disinterestedness and friendship are often to be found there; men who scorn
treachery and baseness, and would risk all, rather than do a mean thing. Such
were Manius Lepidus, Seneca, and Burrus; such Cocceius Nerva and
Julius Agricola, and such were the Chancellor
de L’Hospital, Chancellor Hyde, and the
Earl of Southampton; all these great men were Courtiers,
and lived in Courts full of corruption and dangerous designs; all practised
some degrees of suppleness, submitted their opinions to the necessity of the
times, and, by defeating many evil measures, were the Authors of much good,
though not of all that they would.

Cardinal Richelieu makes heavy complaints of the
opposition which he found to his best designs from the credit and intrigues of
Women, and the whispers and ill offices of malevolent Courtiers. These great
men abovementioned were likewise often wronged; bad counsels which they had
heartily opposed, were imputed to them; and, when they concurred with some
excesses to obviate much greater, just allowances were not made, and their
motives were spitefully construed. Thus the Chancellor De
L’Hospital was severely censured by the Hugonots for passing the Edict of
Romorantin, which bore hard upon them; though by that Edict he prevented their
utter extirpation, and the misery of all France, by hindering the introduction
and establishment of that monstrous and bloody Tribunal the Inquisition; in
which design the Court and Parliament were already agreed, and I think the
Edict for that detestable purpose was ready. For such signal and glorious
service the Protestants first railed at him, and the Papists afterwards cursed
him. Lord Clarendon too was reproached
Edition: current; Page: [204]with the sale of Dunkirk, and for many other
exorbitancies which the sincere heart of that upright Minister abhorred. Nor
could the good counsels of Seneca secure him from much envy
and defamation; and many great Ministers, thought to be the Authors of evil
counsels, have fallen into disgrace, or perished, for daring to offer such as
were benevolent and upright
a
.

Sect. III.: The Arts of Courtiers; their
Cautiousness, and its Causes.

PLausibleness and guises are inseparable from Courts; men must
not seem to understand all that they apprehend or know, no more than they must
speak all that they think or feel
b
. Princes often dissemble with their Subjects, their Ministers with
them, and all with one another; and every one talks, as he appears, to the best
advantage. Some dissimulation there, is absolutely necessary, and therefore
lawful. Men are not obliged upon all occasions to speak the truth, though
whatever they speak upon any occasion ought to be true. Nor ought any one to be
blamed for hiding his passions and sentiments, when the discovery would only
serve to hurt himself. But few people in private life can be trusted with
secrets, which published would lessen one’s peace or same; and in Courts there
are much fewer, perhaps none. Particular interests and passions are often
shifting there; men who were once close united, become widely divided;
friendships old and long, are turned into bitter and vindictive enmity; and he
who would once have risqued his life for the preferment of his friend, would
venture as much, upon a disgust, to bring him to a scaffold. This might be
exemplified by a thousand instances in all Times
Edition: current; Page: [205]and Histories. Nothing keeps the passions more awake
than the pursuit of power; nothing touches the pride of man more sensibly, than
neglect or disappointment in that pursuit, and nothing is more tender and
suspicious than pride. Few have got so much as not to aim at more, or have had
ever so much assistance but they expect further, even where the same is
unreasonable or perhaps impossible; and from disappointment ensues disgust. Too
rarely seen is that Gratitude which looks backward, and generously subsists
upon favours past, without fresh claims and aliment; how much more common is
that which must be kept up by daily benefits, and, when bereft of such food,
expires? Nor is the ceasing of gratitude the worst that is to be apprehended
from selfish and ungenerous men; the room of it is too often supplied by spite
and revenge; and if it be natural to hate such as we have injured, this hate
must be great in proportion to the injury done; and what injury can be greater
than that of being barbarous to benefactors?

These considerations are sufficient to make such as
frequent Courts and know men, slow and wary in confiding, and to put them under
considerable reserves even where they confide most. No one cares to be at the
mercy of a friend, that may be an enemy; hence, in the making of friendship any
where, it ought to be one of the first considerations, whether there be any
probable causes which threaten a rupture; whether the business of love, or
power, or fame, or anger, or interest, be never likely to interfere, and
produce the most bitter of all enmities, that of friends.

This wariness at Court extends even to words and looks.
The conversing with great men and great affairs, naturally produces secresy and
silence; for, since such is the folly of the world, that whatever a great man
says, however light or accidental, shall be deemed deep and mysterious, if it
has
Edition: current; Page: [206]the least allusion to the transactions of the times,
and since they who hear it will be apt, through vanity, to quote it; great men
seldom say any thing upon such subjects; and even when they hear the talk and
sentiments of others, they take care that neither their answers, nor their
countenance, shall betray their own. Sometimes a word thoughtlessly dropped, or
an unseasonable smile, or some mark of surprize, has given light into an
important design, and marred it intirely. The like circumspection they observe
in their discourse upon particulars, because their discourse may be easily
altered and poisoned by the malice or folly of such as hear it; a practice as
usual at Court, as in any country village; and many a man has been disgraced by
his own words, whispered and altered by a virulent breath; nay, the very same
thing reported with a different tone and action, has had the same effect; and
where the alteration of the words was considerable, those of them which were
forged and criminal have been believed, because the rest that were true and
innocent, were well attested.

I shall illustrate this by the story of young Nero (the
son of Germanicus) in the Court of Tiberius. It excellently shews the jealousies of Princes, and
the spirit of Courts. That young Prince was intirely beloved of the Roman
People, who had adored his father; hence the distaste and dark suspicions of
the Emperor, his great uncle and grandfather by adoption. Sejanus, who had already poisoned the Emperor’s son
Drusus, and was ploting the overthrow of the whole reigning
House, fed the hate and apprehensions of the old Prince, by malignant reports
and infusions concerning the young, now the next in Succession. This he did by
the inter-agency of hollow whispers and tale-bearers, who related and blackened
every thing that escaped Nero, who was also hard used and
brow-beaten, on purpose to extort from him severe and unwary complaints, such
as might fill up the charge against
Edition: current; Page: [207]him. Moreover his domestics and retainers, impatient
to see him in power that they might shine in its trappings, were continually
exciting him to rouse his courage and exert himself, to meet the zeal of the
people, to gratify the passionate wishes of the army; as the only expedients to
daunt and repulse the insolence of Sejanus, who now
despised him as a boy, and his grandfather as superannuated.

The young Prince, however naturally modest, was yet by
so many instigations transported beyond the circumspection which the station
that he was in, and the many eyes that were upon him, required; and thence gave
vent to words, which, though they betrayed no sign of any treasonable purpose,
yet, being ill-guarded and savouring of contumacy, were, by the spies purposely
placed about him, carried instantly, well heightened and imbittered, to
Tiberius. Nor, under all these imputations and aspersions,
was he warned or admitted to vindicate himself, but beset, on the contrary,
with several melancholy and boding appearances. Some of the Court carefully
shunned to meet him; others just greeted him, and then instantly left him; many
with whom he had begun a conversation, broke it off abruptly; while the
creatures and adherents of Sejanus looked on with a
malicious laugh. Tiberius too always received him sternly,
or with a hollow and upbraiding smile; and, whether the youth spoke, or said
nothing, there were crimes in his words, crimes in his silence. Neither did his
bed-chamber and the shades of night secure him from his Enemies and Accusers,
for even his restlessness and watchings, nay, his sighs and dreams, were by his
wife divulged to her mother Livia, and by her to her
adulterer Sejanus. Drusus also, his younger brother, was,
by this wicked politician, drawn to combine against him as one who stood
between himself and the Empire, and was better beloved by their common mother
Agrippina; a fresh cause of emulation and prejudice. Yet at
that
Edition: current; Page: [208]very time was Sejanus laying a
design against the life of this same Drusus, whom he knew
to be of a spirit tempestuous and fiery, and thence the more obnoxious to
snares. Thus he began the Tragedy of these two youths, and that of their
mother; but before he had finished theirs, suffered his own, which was
abundantly bloody, but abundantly just. Their brother Caligula was a better Courtier; he studied the temper and
manner of Tiberius, and in all things conformed to it; but
was particularly a complete scholar of his in dissimulation
c
. Upon the condemnation of his mother, upon the exile of his brothers,
not a word, not a groan escaped him, nor any symptom of resentment or pity. The
passions are no where more agitated than at Court; yet no where are the signs
of perturbation more suppressed.

Sect. IV.: Of Slanderers and Tale-bearers in
Courts. The Folly of Craft.

THE occupation of slander and whispering, will, like other
occupations, always thrive according to the encouragement given to it, and
being easily exercised, will be ever engaging fresh adventurers. What requires
less labour and conscience than to find out, or frame, or invenom a story to
the prejudice of another, especially when he is not to be heard in his own
defence, nor suffered to confront his Accuser, nor perhaps even knows that he
has one? There is an endless appetite in mankind for Intelligence and secret
History; and in proportion to that appetite, they who feed it are well received
and encouraged. But of all places they fare best in Courts. Great men are in
the power of such people much more than they themselves imagine or mean; these
assiduous shadows of theirs, who have their ear, and know their tempers, watch
their unwary moments, and observe when they are gay and
Edition: current; Page: [209]open, when disobliged and angry, when full of thought
and business; and will be sure to improve the present temper and opportunity.
They know the Characters of men; know whom their Patron loves, whom he
dislikes, to whom he is altogether indifferent, with what is likely to be
believed of each. They extoll some, decry others, flatter him, misrepresent
all; and sooth, or alarm, or divert him, just as his humour and their drift
requires. If with this they can play the droll, and make dry and malicious
jests, they are accomplished in their way; but most villainous is that talent
which is good for nothing but to do hurt; it is like death and poison, fit only
to take away life. Vatinius was a buffoon of this pestilent
cast, and, from working in a stall, taken to Court, at first for jest and
diversion; but having a malicious spirit and a sarcastical turn, soon became a
terror to every worthy and illustrious man; insomuch that in wealth and favour,
and in power to do mischief, he grew to exceed all the other Ministers of
inquity in Nero’s Court.

In all Courts there are many who rise into notice and
preferment for no greater merit than that of officiousness, buffoonery and
tale-bearing; and Courts are the places in the world where bad and worthless
people can do the most harm; a Barber, a Porter, a Valet de Chambre, and even a
Child, are all capable of doing notable mischief there. Those instruments, let
them be ever so mean, will find some or other to hear them; these will find
others; and a story that has run through a hundred hands, and can be traced to
no original, or to a very low one, perhaps the idle Prattle of a Chambermaid,
may, for all that, have no mean influence.

But whatever reason men have, upon all these accounts,
to keep a guard upon their lips and behaviour at Court; there is still room for
great frankness and candour, and no necessity of illusion and
Edition: current; Page: [210]deceiving, though it be often necessary to let people
deceive themselves, and would be often imprudent and dangerous to undeceive
them. It is certain, that in the transacting of great Affairs, the rules of
morality admit of some relaxation; this is to be lamented, but not to be
helped. Such frequently are the exigencies of a State, and such always the
crookedness and depravity of the heart of man, that were you to deal openly, to
tell all that you mean, all that you know, and all that you aim at, you would
expose your Country to ruin, and yourself to scorn, perhaps to the block. The
most that can be done is to save appearances, and be wary of what expressions
are used; for, upon these occasions, and many others, men are not to be
upbraided for their silence. I know some who have gone through nice Embassies,
some who have concluded intricate Negotiations, others who have administered
the highest Offices, and still preserved the character of high Honour, and
untainted Veracity. This shews the thing to be possible; and a promise or
assurance, just given to serve a turn, and therefore not observed afterwards,
does often more injury to him who made it, than the serving that turn did good.
Cardinal Richelieu was not liberal of money nor promises;
but he always performed more than he undertook; hence the zeal and firm
adherence of all who depended upon him. Cardinal Mazarin
denied nothing, performed nothing, was believed in nothing, and his ill faith
was become proverbial; hence no man was ever more hated, no man in his station
more despised; he could never rely upon any party, for he deceived all parties
and all particulars; and nothing could support him but the blind obstinacy of
the Queen Regent, and the mere weight of Royal Power armed in his defence; but
in spite of the Queen and the Authority Royal, he was forced to run and sculk
for his life. The Parliament set a price
Edition: current; Page: [211]upon his head, and issued ordinances to the people to
fall upon him as a public Enemy. Yet he had never carried Sovereign Power so
high as his Predecessor, nor ever exerted it so terribly; but he had no faith
nor honour, and therefore no personal friends. To this hour, Richelieu is considered as a Minister, who, though arbitrary
and severe, was yet an elevated genius, and a man of veracity to particulars;
Mazarin, as a man not rigorous indeed, nor vindictive, but
sordid, addicted to low cunning and lyes, and with all the eclat of a great
Minister unable to hide the little tricking Italian.

Craftiness is a despicable quality, and undoes itself;
he who has it, and acts by it, can never disguise it long; and when it becomes
apparent, it becomes impotent, arms every body against it, brings hatred or
ridicule, at best is perfectly useless; and the man, even when he deals
uprightly, is suspected to mean knavishly. What gained Tiberius by all his profound subtlety and wiles, but to have
his best actions ill construed, and his sincerest professions to be disbelieved
d
? What gained Philip the second of Spain by that
strange and intricate scene of false Politics, concerted to transfer his own
guilt upon the head of his Minister Antonio Perez; but to
bring home the just imputation of that guilt to his own door, and to produce
full proof, where before there was only suspicion? Sincerity is very consistent
with human prudence, and often a part of it, considering the reputation that
always attends it; and men even in Courts may be very upright, without being
unguarded; nor can Courtiers ever do business with one another without some
openness and candour. I have seen it asserted somewhere, that people are oftner
deceived by distrust than by
Edition: current; Page: [212]acts of confidence. I have observed as plain dealing
in Courtiers as in any other sort of men in the world. It is ridiculous to
carry reserve and deepness into every thing. I know not a more contemptible
sort of men than such as mimic business and mystery; I have seen some subaltern
Courtiers look as important, demure and wary, as if they had carried great
matters, and even the weight of the State upon their shoulders. This
affectation serves to raise their credit amongst their servants and artificers
in town, and in the country amongst their tenants and neighbours, and diverts
better judges. There are others who really believe themselves to be in secrets;
who take shrugs and nods, mere words and shadows for real confidence and
communication; and live in happy ignorance, under the conceit of high trust and
intelligence. Some few too there are, who, besides despising the foppery of
being thought trusted where they are not, are careful to hide it from the world
when they are. ’Tis men of this turn who chiefly do credit to a Court; and
whoever does it credit, does it service.

Sect. V.: How much worthless People abound in
Courts, and why.

AS in a great family, where there are numerous domestics, in
spite of all the care that can be taken to examine the Characters of servants
when they are admitted, or to regulate and watch their behaviour afterwards,
there will be some still unworthy of their places, and a discredit to their
master; how much more so must it be in a Court, where not only the officers,
but even the offices are so numerous; where so many have a right to prefer or
recommend, and where so many do both from strange, wretched, and selfish
motives, nay, often for considerations altogether dishonourable and scandalous?
It is therefore
Edition: current; Page: [213]no wonder, that though the politest men are always
found at Court, so likewise are always a strange rabble of creatures, ignorant,
mercenary, ridiculous and disagreeable, who owe their preferment to chance,
whim, money, dirty services, to names, affinities, nay, to impudence and folly;
and one who has no pretences to any thing else, neither to education, nor
capacity, nor honour, nor spirit, nor even to good looks and common sense,
shall find pretences to a place, and probably get one. Nor is this to be
remedied; since he who gives it does not chuse, but take, and has often
stronger reasons to oblige the recommender, than to reject the recommended. I
have known a friend, nay, a relation of a great Minister, disappointed twice of
an Office which was even intended for him, but by potent intercession was
bestowed elsewhere; the first time, upon one whom the Minister knew not, whom
the Recommender knew not, nor whom even the Lady who spoke for him knew; but
one who for a sum of money engaged a Gentleman’s Valet de Chambre to engage the
Lady’s Woman whom the Valet courted, to engage her Lady whom she governed, to
engage the last Recommender, who undertook it, and succeeded. He who had the
first pretences was again put by upon a vacancy, and a creature put in, whom
the Minister was known to despise, and almost to loath; but sacrificed his
opinion, his aversion, and his friend to mediation not more honourably
obtained. At so critical a juncture as that of a Rebellion, I have heard of one
who by a Letter written with the same pen which he had used in corresponding
with the Rebels, procured a handsome provision for his brother, who wished the
Rebels as well as he, and had distinguished himself in a very public place by
acts of disaffection, and disloyal healths. Nor in this instance was there any
money or intrigue at all; the Recommender had only once told a hearty lye for a
Edition: current; Page: [214]great man in a nice case, and sworn to it; hence his
merit and influence. For an act of honour or spirit, done to serve the Public,
he might perhaps have found less regard, perhaps not so much as access; as
befel some who did.

It is certain, great men often prefer such as they
dislike, and such as do them no credit, sometimes with their eyes open,
frequently through misinformation, and in both cases through solicitation and
importunity. Men of merit often want interest, often application and boldness;
whereas one who has no one worthy qualification, is the more likely to have
importunity and shamelessness. It has indeed been often a notable advantage to
a man, that he had not sense enough to be ashamed nor baulked; nay, I have
known such a negative accomplishment to be the making of his fortune. A
rational man will take a rational answer, or even a trifling one, when he sees
it meant for a rebuke or a refusal; or perhaps he has too much pride to press
and beseech, or to ask above once; but he who has no understanding to mislead
him from his interest; or to apprehend what is said to him; he who is incapable
of a repulse, or to be ashamed of begging and teasing; but has an unchangeable
front and unwearied nonsense, stands in a fair light to have his pretences
considered. Though he cannot persuade, he can tire; and he finds the fruit and
advantage of talents in the absolute want of them; he is despised and promoted;
a little share of good sense and modesty, would have ruined him, and he might
then have been neither disliked nor minded.

Such is the force of recommendation without reason, or
against it; and such too the power of assiduity unincumbered with parts! There
are strange inconsistencies in the make, and turn, and education of men. There
are those who can calmly encounter death and terrors in any shape, yet shall
tremble in
Edition: current; Page: [215]speaking two or three words to a Secretary of State;
a task which would not baulk a common Footman. Others can harangue readily and
boldly before a great Assembly, yet are struck dumb in the company of Women, a
place where a Page, or an ignorant Beau, can be entertaining and eloquent. Some
have talents, but not the use of them. Many have capacity, but want
application; many are hurt by too much application not directed by capacity;
several have good sense and activity, and can apply both to serve a friend, but
neither to do good to themselves. In some you find excellent parts frustrated
by predominant passions; in others eminent courage and spirit drowned and
depreciated by a modesty almost childish; and numbers there are who, under a
notorious defect of ability, acquirements, and every amiable quality, are
pushed up as high as any of these could have pushed them, perhaps much higher
than all of them would. So that, in the odd assortment of human things, Fortune
would seem to correspond with the caprice and wantonness of Nature.

I have already owned that it is impossible to keep many worthless people out
of a Court, considering how many ways there are to get in; but owing to such is
a good measure of the obloquy usually thrown upon Courts and ministers; as the
falshood, the low tricks and spirit of these Underlings, are all ascribed to
the genius of the place and of power; and under the character of insincerity
and ingratitude, it is usual in popular discourse and opinion, though it is
really very unjust, to throw all Courtiers together. I even believe that there
are some of them foolish and base enough to like the reputation of slipperiness
and deceiving, for the sake of being thought good Courtiers. From the numbers
too and little minds of such, we may account for the general outcry and
reproach which from that quarter usually follow any worthy Minister fallen into
disgrace. They are for
Edition: current; Page: [216]the Powers that be; and though they be the work of
his hands, were thrust into place by his late might, and are still basking in
the Sun-shine which he let in upon them; yet they are ready not only to leave a
falling house, but to help pull it down. It is the temper of Renegadoes. The
celebrated Sancho was first warmly in the interest of the
injured Basil, one who had lost his Mistress for no want of
merit, but through the superior wealth of his rival Gamacho; yet the savory skimmings and loaded ladles out of
Gamacho’s kettles, so effectually turned the supple spirit
of that courtly Squire, that, without more ceremony, he began to justify and
extol the happy supplanter, and to rail plentifully at poor Basil under misfortune and disgrace.

What can Ministers expect, when they have raised such
dust, but that with the first contrary wind, it will be blown into their eyes?
Mean spirits, selfish and impudent, can never take the impressions of gratitude
and honour; no more than such as are modest and generous can ever be ungrateful
or base. Yet hard is the task to weed a Court of such; not only because the
same interest that recommends, does likewise protect; but because there are so
many Candidates ready to fill their places, and supported by so many Patrons
and Intercessors, that more will be disobliged than can be gratified by the
change; and after all perhaps the fresh comer may not prove the more deserving
man. Neither can the great Officers easily cure the exorbitances and exactions
of the inferior; especially when the same are become common and inveterate. All
men, even the greatest men desire to live easy with those they have daily to do
with, and will not care to incur the clamour and curses of Subalterns; who,
though they are but small men, yet being numerous, and supported by all who are
interested in corruption, are able by continual complaints
Edition: current; Page: [217]and noise, to weaken the credit of the most puissant
Minister, and to make him very uneasy.

Sect. VI.: The remarkable Fickleness and
Insincerity of Courtiers.

I Had once an opportunity of seeing the steadiness and gratitude
of Courtiers put to trial, upon an apprehension of a change in the ministry. I
was strictly curious in my observations and inquiries; and my discoveries were
such, as have fully confirmed me in all my former and present sentiments of
these people. There were some who gave proofs of signal friendship and
constancy to the standing Ministry; several were wary and silent, but many made
preposterous haste to shew their levity and selfishness; and, from the
behaviour of most, there arose warning enough, even to greatness itself, to
rely for its best security upon wisdom and innocence.

A little before the death of Tiberius, then past hopes,
he was reported to be dead. Instantly the Courtiers crowded about
Caligula the next heir, with a torrent of congratulations
and zeal; and he was going forth, thus attended, to assume the pomp and
exercise of Sovereignty, when sudden tideings came, that the Emperor, who had
lain some time in a swoon, was revived, and calling for some refreshment to
strengthen his spirits. Instant terror seized all; most of them dispersed and
fled; some assumed an air of mourning; many feigned utter ignorance.
Caligula was struck speechless, and, from the highest
hopes, expecting his last doom. Macro only remained
undaunted; he commanded the ancient Emperor to be smothered with a great weight
of coverings, having first ordered every body to quit the chamber.

Edition: current; Page: [218]

Amongst the many good things, and excellent sense in the
Memoirs of Cardinal De Retz, there occur frequent pictures
of the Court, particularly upon the beginning of the Commotions in Paris. At
the Palace Royal, and especially in the Cabinet, upon that occasion, every
individual assumed a person, and acted a part. The Coadjutor acted the innocent
and the dupe, but was not so. Mazarin affected to appear
resolute, but appeared more so than he was. By starts and intervals the Queen
counterfeited great temper and gentleness; yet had been at no time more bitter
and enraged. The Duke De Longueville feigned extreme
affliction, yet felt a sensible joy, as he was the man in the world the most
delighted with the beginnings of all affairs. The Duke of Orleans, in speaking to the Queen, shewed great warmth and
vehemence, but presently after fell a whistling (a usual habit of his) with all
the indolence in the world. The Marshal De Villeroy
displayed gayety and unconcern, to make his Court to Mazarin; but to the Coadjutor he owned, with tears in his eyes,
that the State was upon the brink of a precipice. Mr. De
Beautru and Mr. De Nogent, played the buffoons, to
humour the Queen, and drolled upon the commotion; though both these men knew
well, that, in all probability, this farce of theirs would too soon be followed
by a Tragedy. The Abbé De La Riviere only, though the most
notorious poltron of the age, was persuaded that this popular insurrection was
but smoke; this he maintained stiffly to the Queen, and this pleased her. To
fill up the complement of Actors, the Marshal De La
Meilleraie, who had hitherto joined with the Coadjutor in representing the
terrors and consequences of the tumult, all on a sudden changed his past part,
and took that of the Champion, with a different tone and other sentiments; in
an instant
Edition: current; Page: [219]he was all rage, and contempt, and defiance.
Mem.De Retz, vol. 1. p. 122.

In short, the Queen and the Cardinal took every one who
told them truth, for a certain enemy to themselves, and for a promoter, at
least a secret wellwisher, of the revolt. When this was the reward of
plain-dealing, who would venture his place and favour by dealing plainly? Thus,
for want of honest information, and sincere advisers, and by suspecting or
disbelieving such as were so, the State had nigh perished. The whole detail in
De Retz is full of curious incidents, full of strong and
just reflections; as is almost the whole Book.

DISCOURSE X.: Of Armies and Conquest.

Sect. I.: The Burden and Danger of maintaining
great Armies.

TOO many Princes are infatuated with false notions of Glory, and
thence delight in War. Without doubt it is true Glory to excel in war, where
war is necessary; but in the whole course of History, where one has been so,
twenty have been otherwise; and to engage in it from the wantonness of
ambition, or for the sake of Laurel, or through peevishness and humour, is to
risque the blood, and treasure, and people, and being of a State, for the
foppery of false Heroism: or to sacrifice the same to the selfish and
inglorious view of making a Country (either that which conquers, or that which
is conquered, or both) the prey of the Hero. For such has been generally the
logic of the Sword, that because it has saved, it may
Edition: current; Page: [220]therefore oppress and enthral, and for defending a
part, take the whole. Wars beget great Armies; Armies beget great Taxes; heavy
Taxes waste and impoverish the Country, even where Armies commit no violences;
a case seldom to be supposed, bebause it has seldom happened. But where great
Armies are, they must be employed, and do mischief abroad, to keep them from
doing it at home; so that the people must be exhausted and oppressed to keep
the men of the sword in exercise.

The great Turk, to keep the swords of the Janizaries
from his own throat, is forced to plague his neighbours, even where he earns
nothing but blows and disgrace; and thence increases the danger which he would
avert; for, as by his Armies he makes all men slaves, he himself is a slave to
his Armies, and often their victim; or, to escape himself, is frequently forced
to satiate their fury by the blood of his bravest Officers, and best
Counsellors. If it be the Glory of his Monarchy, that he can put the greatest
men and all men to death, without reason, or form, or process; he is subject in
his own person to the same lawless and expeditious butchery, from his own
outrageous slaves, who being not accustomed to receive any Law from him, give
him none, whenever he is in their power, which is as often as they think fit;
and he who is a Prince of slaves, is adjudged by slaves, and dies like the
meanest slave. What is there to save him? His people who are oppressed, want
the inclination, and being unarmed, the power. So that he lives in personal
servitude to those who are the instruments of public Servitude; and as others
must die to please him, so must he to please them. It is the Law of
retaliation, and operates as often as its causes operate, namely, caprice, or
rage, or fear. This is the blessing of being absolute, and unfettered by human
constitutions; the same sword which is lifted up for you
Edition: current; Page: [221]at the command of whim or passion, is with the like
wantonness lifted up against you; and if you reign in blood, you must not think
it strange to die in it.

Sect. II.: Great Armies the best disciplined,
whether thence the less formidable to a Country. Their Temper and Views.

IN regard to public Liberty, Armies the best disciplined are not
less to be dreaded than the worst, but I think, more; since their relaxation of
discipline takes away from their union and sufficiency; it renders them weaker
and less equal to mighty mischief; but where they are strict and united, the
highest iniquities are not too big for them. Disorderly Troops may rob
particulars, ravage towns, and harass a Country; but if you would subdue
Nations, commit universal spoil, and enslave Empires, your forces must be under
the best regulations. It was with an Army victorious and brave, and
consequently well disciplined, that Agathocles slaughtered
all the Nobles of Syracuse, and brought that illustrious State (the noblest of
all the Greek Cities) under bondage. Cromwell’s conquest of
his Country was made by Troops the most sober and best disciplined that this,
or perhaps any other nation, had ever seen. And it was with the best of all the
Roman Armies, that Cæsar established himself Tyrant of
Rome.

Soldiers know little else but booty, and blind
obedience; whatever their interest, or rapacity dictates, they generally will
do; and whatever their officers command, they must do. It is their profession
to dispute by force, and the sword; they too soon learn their own power, and
where it is an overbalance for the Civil Power, it will always controul
Edition: current; Page: [222]the Civil Power, and all things
a
. They find readily somewhat to say; the strongest is ever the best
disputant, when he carries his reasons upon the point of his sword
b
. They have done great services, they have suffered great wrongs, and
will therefore reward and redress themselves. It is the reasoning of
Cæsarc
. It is nothing to the purpose to say, that an Army listed amongst the
natives, especially the officers being natives, and many of them men of
fortune, will never hurt or oppress their Country; for such were Cromwell’s Army, such were Cæsar’s, and
many other enslaving Armies; besides Armies are soon modelled, and Officers who
are obnoxious, are soon changed.

No Government can subsist but by force, and where-ever
that force lies, there it is that Government is or soon will be. Free States
therefore have preserved themselves, and their Liberties, by arming all their
people, because all the people are interested in preserving those Liberties; by
drawing out numbers of them thus armed, to serve their Country occasionally,
and by dissolving them (when that occasion was over) into the mass of the
people again; by often changing the chief Officers, or, if they continued the
same, by letting their commissions be temporary, and always subject to the
controul of the supreme Power, often to that of other co-ordinate Power, as the
Dutch Generals are to the Deputies. It is indeed but rare, that States who have
not taken such precaution, have not lost their Liberties; their Generals have
set up for themselves, and turned
Edition: current; Page: [223]the Arms put into their hands against their Masters.
This did Marius, Sylla, Cæsar, Dionysius, Agathocles, Charles
Martel, Oliver Cromwell, and many others; and this they all did by the
same means: it is still frequently done in the Eastern Monarchies; and by the
same means all the Christian Princes of Europe, who were arbitrary, became so.
For as the experience of all ages shews us, that all men’s views are to attain
dominion and riches, it is ridiculous to hope, that they will not use the means
in their power to attain them, and madness to trust them with those means. They
will never want pretences, either from their own fafety, or the public Good, to
justify the measures which have succeeded; and they know well, that the success
will always justify itself; that great numbers will be found to sanctify their
power; most of the rest will submit to it, and in time will think it just and
necessary; perhaps at last believe it to be obtained miraculously, and to have
been the immediate act of Heaven.

Sect. III.: Princes ruling by military Power,
ever at the Mercy of military Men.

AS by these means private men often come at Sovereign Power; so
limited Princes often become arbitrary; but one mischief is inseparable from
this sort of Government; they generally lose their Authority by the same method
they get it. For, having attained it by violence, they are obliged to keep it
by violence; and that cannot be done but by engaging in the interest of their
Oppression a body of men, strong enough to maintain it; and it will for the
most part happen, that as these men have no interest but their own in serving a
Tyrant, so when that interest ceases, and they can serve themselves better in
destroying him, they seldom fail of
Edition: current; Page: [224]doing it. In fact we find, that in all the great
despotic Governments in the world the Monarchs are slaves to their soldiery,
and they murder and depose their Princes just according to their caprices. The
General sets up any of the Princes of the blood, whom he thinks most for his
interest, and often-times upon the death of the Possessor they are all set up,
by one part of the Army or other, (if one cannot get all the rest into his
power, and murder them) and the Civil War continues, till one has slaughtered
all his rivals.

If this is not done in the modern absolute Governments
of Europe, it is because despotic Power is not so thoroughly established there,
and the people have yet some share of Property, and consequently of Power; but
still they do it as much as they dare; in some instances they have set up
themselves, and in almost all have been the principal engines and instruments
in working about Revolutions, according to their own inclinations and disgusts.
Of this we had many instances in our own Country, within the compass of not
many years.

How much easier is it to corrupt a few leading Officers,
often necessitous, generally ambitious, than to persuade a whole Kingdom, if
they are well governed, to destroy themselves? Some will be disobliged, because
not preferred to their wishes, or because others are preferred before them;
they will differ according to their countries or their interests about the
person to be their General, and to have the power of preferring or recommending
Officers; and that part which is disappointed shall be a faction against that
which succeeds. Where-ever Commissions are venal, there will be no difficulty
of buying those, who are disaffected, into them, if they can disguise their
disaffection till a proper opportunity. In a Country where factions abound, and
those at the helm can find any account in keeping measures
Edition: current; Page: [225]with a contrary faction, Officers will be put in to
oblige that faction, sometimes to gratify friends or favourites; at different
times, others will be discarded, to oblige one party, or to mortify the other.
New men, by private recommendation or money, shall supercede old Officers; this
will create new dissatisfactions and disgusts, as soon as they dare shew them.
When the Administration is changed, and another party gets uppermost, all those
things shall be done over again; so that at last an Army shall be a medley of
all the factions of a Kingdom; and all their preferments and expectations
depending upon the success of those factions; each individual will take every
safe opportunity to advance his own; and for the most part one or other of
these factions, sometimes all, are ready to join in shuffling the cards anew;
the sure prelude of a Civil War.

This is and ever must be the case of all Countries which
subsist by standing Armies. For there are few instances in History, to be given
of Armies who did not play their own game, in times of distress; few instances
of disobliged or unpreferred Officers, who did not change sides; too many have
made their peace by some remarkable act of treachery; very often they have done
it only from the motives of ambition and avarice. I wish that we never had had
instances amongst ourselves of any who have done the same; or even of Generals
who played a double game. What Oliver Cromwell, Monk, and
very many both of the King’s and of the Parliament Officers did in the Civil
War, we all know, as well as what King James’s Army did
more lately: I wish we equally knew what intrigues of this kind have been
carrying on since. In Civil Wars amongst men of the same Country, the
communication is so easy between friends, relations and former acquaintance,
that there is a very ready transition from one side to another;
Edition: current; Page: [226]and a little success, small intrigues, and a few
advantages generally make that transition.

Sect. IV.: Instances of the Boldness and Fury of
the Roman Soldiery.

IT is astonishing from what light and wanton motives, by what
vile and contemptible instruments, Armies are often instigated to violence and
ravages. The sedition of that in Pannonia, after the death of Augustus, was raised by one common soldier, inflamed by
another; rapine and massacres were committed or defended by almost all; they
murdered their Officers; even their General had like to have been murdered,
upon the credit of an impudent lie told by one of these vile incendiaries, who
yet could scarce alledge any other grievance than that they had not too much
pay, and too little discipline. Nor was the insurrection, excited by these two
fellows, restrained to the Pannonian Legions only, but extended to those in
Germany, who waxed into fury rather greater, and outraged all things human and
divine.

It was one common soldier who gave the Empire to
Claudius, by saluting him Emperor, while the poor dastardly
wretch was lurking in a corner, and expecting death instead of Sovereignty.
Under Galba two private Centinels undertook to transfer the
Empire to another, and actually transferred it. It is shocking to reflect with
what eagerness these blood-thirsty assassins hastened to murder that good old
Prince, for no charge of misgovernment, nor for defrauding them of their pay;
but because he would not exhaust the Public to glut them with bounties. They
were such abandoned Russians, that they sought to kill Marius
Celsus, purely because as he was an able and virtuous man,
Edition: current; Page: [227]they judged him an enemy to themselves who delighted
only in blood, and wickedness, and spoil. It would require a volume to recount
the behaviour, the treacherous and inhuman exploits of these sons of violence
thenceforward; their murdering and promoting of Emperors, sometimes two or
three, sometimes more, once thirty at a time; their selling the Empire for
money; their besieging and threatning to massacre the Senate; their burning the
Capitol, setting fire to the Imperial City, pillaging and butchering its
inhabitants, and using them like slaves and captives; with other instances of
their insolence, barbarity, and misrule. In the third and fourth Volumes of
this Work much of this will be seen, recounted by Tacitus.

The Gothic Governments were military in their first
settlement; the General was King, the Officers were the Nobles, and the
Soldiers their Tenants; but by the nature of the settlement, out of an Army a
Country Militia was produced. The Prince had many occasional troops, but no
standing troops; hence he grew not absolute, like the Great Turk; who having
cantoned out the conquered Countries amongst his horsemen, must by doing it
have lost his arbitrary Power, but that he kept a large body of men in arms,
called the Janizaries.

Great Britain has preserved its Liberties so long,
because it has preserved itself from great standing Armies; which, where-ever
they are strong enough to master their Country, will certainly first or last
master it. Some troops we must have for guards and garisons, enough to prevent
sudden Insurrections, and sudden Revolutions. What numbers are sufficient for
this, the experience of past times, and the sense of our Parliaments, have
shewn.

Edition: current; Page: [228]

Sect. V.: The Humour of conquering, how
injudicious, vain, and destructive.

THE Athenians began the ruin of their State, by a mad and
expensive War upon Sicily; and from an ambition of conquering a people who had
never offended them, exposed themselves to the attacks of the Lacedemonians, to
the revolt of their own subjects, to domestic disorders, and the change of
their Government. And though upon the recalling of Alcibiades, they won some victories, and for a while made some
figure; they were at last conquered intirely by Lysander,
their walls thrown down, the States subject to them set at liberty, and they
themselves subjected to the domination of thirty Tyrants. They never after
recovered their former Glory. The Lacedemonians fell afterwards into the same
warlike folly, and their folly had the same fate. By lording over Greece they
drew upon themselves a combination of Greek Cities, which together (especially
the Thebans under the famous Epaminondas) despoiled them of
their Authority, soon after their triumph over Athens. The Thebans too abused
their good fortune; they were equally fond of fighting and conquest, and by it
drew another confederacy against them. In truth, everyone of these States had
been so long weakening themselves, and one another, by their propensity to War,
that at last they fell under servitude to the Kings of Macedon, a Country
formerly depending upon, or rather under vassalage to Athens and Sparta.

These States acted like some of the Princes of our time;
by trusting to their own superior Prowess, they invaded their neighbours, and
taught them Art enough to beat themselves. Thus the Muscovite,
Edition: current; Page: [229]by falling upon the late King of Sweden, yet in his
minority, roused a tempest that had well nigh overturned his Throne; and thus
that King, by refusing the most honourable conditions of peace, and by urging
his fate and revenge too far, taught the Russians that bravery and discipline
which nothing could ever teach them before; saw his own brave Army utterly
routed by forces that he despised; himself driven from his dominions, and a
fugitive in a Country of Infidels; and his Provinces cantoned out amongst
enemies, who, before he had tempted his good fortune to leave him, would have
been glad to have compounded with him for a moiety of their own dominions.

Charles Duke of Burgundy had his head so turned with
gaining the battel of Montl’hery, that he never listened afterwards to any
counsel, but that of his own headstrong humour; nor ceased plunging himself
into Wars, till in that against the Switzers, who had given him no just
provocation, he lost his Army, his dominions, and his life. If Philip the second had kept his oath with the Low Countries, he
might have preserved his Authority over them all. But nothing less would humour
his pride than the subduing of their Liberties and Conscience; and in defence
of their Conscience and Property, he drove them to the use of Arms, which a
people employed in trade and manufacture, as they were, had no list to, nor
skill in. Every body knows the issue; he lost the seven Provinces and their
Revenue for ever, with many millions of money, and almost half a million of
lives thrown away to recover them. By his mighty and boasted Armada designed to
conquer England, what else did he conquer but his own Power at sea? He had
prepared, he had been for some years preparing, a naval force mighty as his own
arrogance; but it all proved to be only measures taken for baffling his
arrogance, and for destroying
Edition: current; Page: [230]the maritime force of Spain; and all the while that
he was vainly meditating the destruction of England, he was in reality taking
the part of England against himself, and, with all his might, weakening its
greatest enemy. Had he husbanded that mighty strength; had he employed it at
times, and in parcels, against these dominions, he might have had some success;
but he combined against his own hopes.

How foolish is the reasoning of passion! It leads men to
throw away strength to gain weakness. Even where these sons of violence
succeed, they may be justly said to acquire nothing, beyond the praise of
mischief. What is the occupation and end of Princes and Governors, but to rule
men for their good, and to keep them from hurting one another? Now what
Conqueror is there who mends the condition of the conquered? Alexander the Great, though he well knew the difference between
a limited and a lawless Monarchy, did not pretend, that his invasion of Persia
was to mend the condition of the Persians. It was a pure struggle for dominion;
when he had gained it, he assumed the Throne upon the same arbitrary terms upon
which their own Monarchs had held it, nor knew any Law but his will. The
subject only felt the violence of the change, without any benefit or relaxation
from slavery. His Glory therefore is all false and deceitful, as is all Glory
which is gained by the blood of men, without mending the state of mankind. This
spirit of fighting and conquering continued in his Successors, who plagued the
earth as he had done, and weltered in the blood of one another, till they were
almost all destroyed by the sword or poison, with the whole family of
Alexander. It was no part of the dispute amongst them,
which of them could bestow most happiness upon the afflicted world, about which
Edition: current; Page: [231]they strove, but who should best exalt himself, and
enslave all.

The State of Carthage after many Countries conquered,
but not bettered by her Arms, was almost dissolved by her own barbarous
Mercenaries, and at last conquered and destroyed by the Romans; who were in
truth the most generous conquerors that the world has known: and most Countries
found the Roman Government better than their own. This continued for some time,
till their Provincial Magistrates grew rapacious, and turned the Provinces into
spoil. Rome itself perished by her conquests, which being made by great Armies,
occasioned such power and insolence in their Commanders, and set some Citizens
so high above the rest, an inequality pernicious to free States, that she was
enslaved by ingrates whom she had employed to defend her. Rome vanquished
foreign nations; foreign luxury debauched Rome, and traiterous Citizens seized
upon their mother with all her acquisitions. All her great blaze and grandeur,
served only to make her wretchedness more conspicious, and her chains more
intensely felt. Upon her thraldom there ensued such a series of Tyranny and
misery, treachery, oppression, cruelty, death and affliction, in all shapes;
that her agonies were scarce ever suspended till she finally expired. When her
own Tyrants, become through Tyranny impotent, could no longer afflict her, for
protection was none of their business; a host of Barbarians, only known for
ravages, and acts of inhumanity, finished the work of desolation, and closed
her civil doom. She has been since racked under a Tyranny more painful, as it
is more slow; and more base, as it is scarce a domination of men; I mean her
vassalage to a sort of beings of all others the most merciless and
contemptible, Monks and Spectres.

Edition: current; Page: [232]

Sect. VI.: The Folly of conquering further urged
and exemplified.

THE Turks, like other Conquerors, know not when to leave off.
They sacrifice the people to gain more territories; and the more they conquer,
the greater is their loss. They lavish men and treasure, to gain waste ground.
What is the use of earth and water, where there are no Inhabitants for these
elements to support? The strength of a Government consists in numerous subjects
industrious and happy; not in extent of territory desolate or ill peopled, or
peopled with inhabitants poor and idle. It is incredible what a profusion of
wealth and lives their attempts upon Persia have cost them, always with fatal
success, even under their wisest and most warlike Princes; and at a time when
their Empire flourished most. Yet these attempts are continued, at a season
when their Affairs are at the lowest; their Provinces exhausted, their people
and revenue decayed, their soldiery disorderly, and all things conspiring to
the final dissolution of their Empire.

Those who will be continually exerting their whole
strength, whether they be societies or particular men, will at last have none
to exert. The Turks have been for ages wasting their vitals to widen their
extremities, and to extend their limbs; which, by being unnaturally stretched,
are quite disjointed and benumbed for want of nourishment from the seat of
life; and must therefore, like mortified members, soon drop off; they have been
long spinning out their own vitals. Now if they had conquered Persia, what
benefit would the conquest have derived to the Persians? None at all; but on
the contrary, fresh oppression, and probably persecution; since the Turks deem
them Heretics for the colour of their caps, and for their obstinate
Edition: current; Page: [233]refusal to change one name for another in the list of
Mahomet’s Successors.

Thus these Barbarians destroy themselves to destroy
others; and Christian Princes imitate these Barbarians. The Spaniard, to secure
to himself the possession of America, destroyed more lives than he had subjects
in Europe; and his mighty Empire there, with his mountains of treasure, bears
indeed an awful sound; yet it is allowed that he has lost much more than he
got, besides the crying guilt of murdering a large part of the globe. His
conquests there, together with his expulsion of the Moors at home, have
dispeopled Spain; and the inhabitants who remain trusting to their American
wealth, are too proud and lazy to be industrious; so that most of their gold
goes to other nations for the manufactures wanted in the Spanish West-Indies.
Hence multitudes and diligence (and diligence often creates multitudes, as by
multitudes diligence is created) are better than mountains of gold, and will
certainly attract such mountains; though others have the name and first
property. Had he kept the industrious Moors, and expelled the barbarous
Inquisitors; encouraged Liberty and Trade, and consequently Liberty of
Conscience, Spain would have been a more powerful nation, and he consequently a
greater King, than all his wide and guilty conquests have made him. Sir
Walter Raleigh says, that the Low Countries alone did, for
revenue, equal his West-Indies. Notwithstanding his many Kingdoms, his Empire
in both Hemispheres, and that the sun never sets upon all his dominions at
once, the small Republic of Holland, small in compass of territory, has been an
overmatch for him.

A late neighbouring Prince was a busy Conqueror. But did his People and
Country gain by his conquests? He drained them of men and money by
Edition: current; Page: [234]millions, only to add to their poverty servitude and
wretchedness, and from their chains and misery derived his own Glory. Nor do I
know any reason why a Prince, who reduces his People, his Nobles, and all
degrees of men in his Dominions, to poverty and littleness, should have the
title of Great, unless for the greatness of the evils which he brought upon his
own Kingdom and all Europe. Let the late and present condition of that Monarchy
declare, what advantages that noble Country owes to his Glory and Victories.
Had it not been for his wanton Wars and oppressive Taxes, there is no pitch of
felicity which the goodness of their soil and climate, the number and industry
of the natives, their many manufactures, and the advantage of their situation,
might not have raised them to. But all was sacrificed to the Ambition and
Bigotry of one. How many resources that Kingdom has within itself; and to what
happiness it is capable of rising under a just and gentle Administration, is
manifest from the suddenness with which it recovered itself under the good
Government of Henry the fourth; how many millions it paid,
how many put into the Exchequer; and what a flourishing condition it was
arrived to, after so fierce, so long, and so consuming a Civil War, and after
two such profuse and profligate Reigns, as that of Charles
the Ninth, and that of Henry the Third. But what avails all
this, when one short Edict, and the maggot of a minute, can dissipate all its
wealth and all its happiness?

I might here display what ridiculous causes do often pique and awaken the
vanity and ambition of Princes, and prompt them to lavish lives and treasure,
and utterly undo those whom they should tenderly protect. For a beast of
burden, or even for the tooth of a beast; for a mistress, for a river, for a
senseless word hastily spoken, for words that had
Edition: current; Page: [235]a foolish meaning, or no meaning at all; for an empty
sepulchre or an empty title; to dry the tears of a coquette, to comply with the
whims of a pedant, or to execute the curses of a bigot; important Wars have
sometimes been waged, and nations animated to destroy one another; nor is there
any security against such destructive follies, where the sense of every man
must acquiesce in the wild passion of one; and where the interest and peace,
and preservation of a State, are found too light to ballance his rage or
caprice. Hence the policy of the Romans to tame a people not easy to be
subdued; they committed such to the domination of Tyrants. Thus they did in
Armenia, and thus in Britain
e
. And these instruments did not only enslave their subjects, but by
continual fighting with one another, consume them.

Necessary Wars are accompanied with evils more than
enough; and who can bear or forgive calamities courted and sought? The Roman
State owed her greatness in a good measure to a misfortune; it was founded in
War, and nourished by it. The same may be said of the Turkish Monarchy. But
States formed for peace, though they do not arrive to such immensity and
grandeur, are more lasting and secure; witness Sparta and Venice. The former
lasted eight hundred years, and the other has lasted twelve hundred, without
any Revolution; what errors they both committed, were owing to their attempts
to conquer, for which they were not formed; though the Spartans were exceeding
brave and victorious; but they wanted the Plebs ingenua,
which formed the strength of the
Edition: current; Page: [236]Roman Armies; as the Janizaries, a militia formerly
excellently trained and disciplined, formed those of the Turk. With the latter,
fighting and extending their dominions, is an article of their Religion, as
false and barbarous in this as in many of its other principles, and as little
calculated for the good of men.

Edition: current; Page: [[1]]

THE ANNALS OF TACITUS.

BOOK I.

The SUMMARY.

ENumeration of the several changes in the Government
of Rome. The State of Rome under Augustus; his politicks, death and character; with the
arts and dissimulation of Tiberius.
Revolt of the Legions in Pannonia, and in Germany; the Conduct of
Germanicus upon that occasion, and
also against the common enemy, with his success and victories. The death and
character of Julia, daughter of
Augustus: Plays instituted in his
honour. Germanicus makes another
expedition against the German nations, and subdues them; frees Segestes from the violence of
Arminius, and is for his exploits
saluted Imperator; continues the war in Germany, recovers
and buries the remains of Varus’s
Legions. The difficulties which befel Cæcina in his march, with his bravery and success in
overcoming them. The Law of violated Majesty, greatly extended and severely
executed. An Inundation from the Tiber. Licentiousness of the Theatres, and the
insolence of Players, checked by a Decree of Senate. Measures proposed for
restraining the overflowing of the Tiber, but opposed by several Communities of
Italy. Tiberius seldom changes the
Governors of Provinces, and why. His dark and crafty conduct upon the Election
of Magistrates at Rome.

Edition: current; Page: [2]

KINGS were the original Magistrates of Rome. Lucius Brutus founded Liberty and the Consulship. Dictators
were chosen only in pressing exigencies. Little more than two years prevailed
the supreme power of the Decemvirate; and the consular jurisdiction of the
military Tribunes, not very many. The domination of Cinna
was but short; that of Sylla not long. The authority of
Pompey and Crassus was quickly
swallowed up in Cæsar; that of Lepidus
and Anthony in Augustus. The
Common-wealth, then long distressed and exhausted by civil dissensions, fell
easily into his hands, and over her he assumed sovereign dominion, softened
with the popular title of Prince of the Senate. But the
several revolutions in the ancient free state of Rome, and all her happy or
disastrous events, are already recorded by Writers of signal renown. Nor, even
in the reign of Augustus, were there wanting Authors of
distinction and genius to have composed his story, till by the prevailing
spirit of flattery and abasement, they were checked. As to the succeeding
Princes, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero; the dread of their tyranny, whilst they yet reigned,
falsified their history; and after their fall, the fresh detestation of their
cruelties inflamed their Historians. Hence my own design of recounting briefly
certain incidents in the reign of Augustus, chiefly towards
his latter end, and of entering afterwards more fully
Edition: current; Page: [3]into that of Tiberius and the other
three, unbiassed by any resentment, or any affection, the influences of such
personal passions being far from me.

When after the fall of Brutus and
Cassius there remained none to fight for the Common-wealth,
and her arms were no longer in her own hands; when Sextus
Pompeius was utterly defeated in Sicily, Lepidus
bereft of his command, Marc Anthony slain; and of all the
chiefs of the late Dictator’s party, only Octavius his
nephew was left; he put off the invidious name of Triumvir, and stiling himself
Consul, pretended that the jurisdiction attached to the Tribuneship was his
highest aim, as in it the protection of the populace was his only view. But
when once he had secured the Soldiery by liberality and donations, gained the
People by store of provisions, and charmed all by the blessings and sweetness
of publick peace, he began by politick gradations to exalt himself, and with
his own power to consolidate the authority of the Senate, jurisdiction of the
Magistrate, and weight and force of the Laws; usurpations, in which he was
thwarted by no man; all the most determined Republicans had fallen in battle,
or by the late sanguinary Proscriptions; and for the surviving Nobility, they
were covered with wealth, and distinguished with publick honours, according to
the measure of their debasement, and promptness to bondage. Add, that all who
in the loss of publick freedom had gained private fortunes, preferred
Edition: current; Page: [4]a servile condition, safe and possessed, to the revival
of ancient Liberty with personal peril. Neither were the Provinces averse to
the present Revolution; since, under the Government of the People and Senate,
they had lived in constant fear and mistrust, from the raging competition
amongst our Grandces, as well as from the rapine and exactions of our
Magistrates. In vain too had been their appeal to the Laws, which were utterly
enfeebled and borne down by violence, by parties; nay, even by subornation and
money.

Moreover, Augustus, to fortify his domination with
collateral bulwarks, raised his sister’s son Claudius
Marcellus, a perfect youth, to the dignity of Pontiff and that of Edile;
preferred Marcus Agrippa to two successive Consulships, a
man in truth meanly born, but an accomplished soldier, and the companion of his
victories; and (Marcellus, the husband of Julia, soon after dying) chose him for his son-in-law. Even the
sons of his wife, Tiberius Nero and Claudius
Drusus, he dignified with high military titles and commands; though his
house was yet supported by descendants of his own blood. For into the
Julian family and name of the Cæsars he
had already adopted Lucius and Caius,
the sons of Agrippa; and though they were but children,
neither of them seventeen years old, vehement had been his ambition to see them
declared Princes of the Roman Youth, and even designed to the Consulship; while
openly he
Edition: current; Page: [5]was protesting against admitting these early honours.
Presently upon the decease of Agrippa, were these his
children snatched away, either by their own natural, but hasty fate, or by the
deadly fraud of their step-mother Livia; Lucius on his
journey to command the armies in Spain, Caius in his return
from Armenia, ill of a wound. And as Drusus, one of her own
sons, had been long since dead, Tiberius remained sole
candidate for the succession. Upon this object centered all princely honours;
he was by Augustus adopted for his son, assumed Collegue in
the Empire, partner in the jurisdiction tribunitial, and presented under all
these dignities to the several armies; instances of grandeur which were no
longer derived from the secret schemes of his mother, as in times past, while
her husband had unexceptionable heirs of his own, but thenceforth bestowed at
her open suit. For as Augustus was now very aged, she had
obtained over him such absolute sway, that for her pleasure he banished into
the Isle of Planasia his only surviving grandson Agrippa
Postumus, destitute, in truth, of laudable accomplishments, in his temper
untractable, and stupidly conceited of his mighty strength, but branded with no
misdemeanour or transgression. The Emperor had withal set Germanicus, the son of Drusus, over eight
legions quartered upon the Rhine, and obliged Tiberius to
adopt him, though Tiberius had then a son of his own,
Edition: current; Page: [6]one of competent years. But it was the study of
Augustus, to secure himself and the succession by variety
of stays and engraftments. War at that time there was none, except that in
Germany, kept on foot rather to abolish the disgrace sustained by
Quintilius Varus, there slain with his army, than from any
ambition to enlarge the Empire, or for any other valuable advantage. In
profound tranquillity were affairs at Rome. To the Magistrates remained their
wonted names; of the Romans the younger sort had been born since the battle of
Actium, and even most of the old during the civil wars: How few were then
living who had seen the ancient free state!

The frame and œconomy of Rome being thus totally
overturned, amongst the Romans were no longer found any traces of their
primitive spirit, or attachment to the virtuous institutions of antiquity. But
as the equality of the whole was extinguished by the sovereignty of one, all
men regarded the orders of the Prince as the only rule of conduct and
obedience; nor felt they any anxiety, while Augustus yet
retained vigour of life, and upheld the credit of his administration with
publick peace, and the imperial fortune of his house. But when he became broken
with age and infirmities; when his end was at hand, and thence a new source of
hopes and views was presented, some few there were who began to reason idly
about the blessings and recovery of
Edition: current; Page: [7]Liberty; many dreaded a civil war, others longed for
one; while far the greater part were uttering their several apprehensions of
their future masters; “that naturally stern and savage was the temper of
Agrippa, and by his publick contumely enraged into fury;
and neither in age nor experience was he equal to the weight of Empire.
Tiberius indeed had arrived at fulness of years, and was a
distinguished captain, but possessed the inveterate pride entailed upon the
Claudian race; and many indications of a cruel nature
escaped him, in spite of all his arts to disguise it; besides that from his
early infancy he was trained up in a reigning house, and even in his youth
inured to an accumulation of power and honours, consulships and triumphs. Nor
during the several years of his abode at Rhodes, where, under the plausible
name of retirement, a real banishment was covered, did he exercise other
occupation than that of meditating future vengeance, studying the arts of
treachery, and practising secret and abominable sensualities. Add to these
considerations, that of his mother, a woman inspired with all the tyranny of
her sex; that the Romans must be under bondage to a woman, and moreover
enthralled by two youths, who would first combine to oppress the State, then
falling into dissension, rend it piece-meal.”

Edition: current; Page: [8]

While the Public was engaged in these and the like
debates, the illness of Augustus daily increased, and some
strongly suspected the pestilent practices of his wife. For there had been,
some months before, a rumour abroad, That Augustus, having
singled out a few of his most faithful servants, and taken Fabius Maximus for his only companion, had sailed secretly over
to the Island of Planasia, there to visit his Grandson Agrippa; that many tears were shed on both sides, many tokens
of mutual tenderness shewn, and hopes from thence conceived, that the unhappy
youth would be restored to his own place in his Grandfather’s family: That
Maximus had disclosed it to Martia, she
to Livia; and thence the Emperor knew that the secret was
betrayed: That Maximus being soon after dead (dead, as it
was doubted, through fear, by his own hands) Martia was
observed, in her lamentations and groans at his funeral, to accuse herself as
the sad cause of her husband’s destruction. Whatever truth was in all this,
Tiberius was scarce entered Illyricum but he was hastily
recalled by his mother’s letters. Nor is it fully known whether, at his return
to Nola, he found Augustus yet breathing, or already
breathless. For Livia had carefully beset the palace, and
all the avenues to it, with detachments of the guards; and good news of his
recovery were from time to time given out. When she had taken all measures
necessary in so great a conjuncture, in one and the same moment was
Edition: current; Page: [9]published the departure of Augustus, and the accession of Tiberius.

The first feat of this new reign was the murder of young
Agrippa. The assassin, a bold and determined Centurion,
found him destitute of arms, and little apprehending such a destiny, yet was
scarce able to dispatch him. Of this transaction Tiberius
avoided any mention in the Senate. He would have it pass for done by the
commands of Augustus; as if he had transmitted written
orders to the Tribune who guarded Agrippa, “to slay him the
instant he heard of his Grandfather’s decease.” It is very true, that
Augustus had made many and vehement complaints of the young
man’s obstinate and unruly demeanour, and even solicited from the Senate a
Decree to authorize his banishment; but he had never hardened himself against
the sentiments of nature, nor in any instance dipt his hands in his own blood;
neither is it credible that he would sacrifice the life of his grandson for the
security and establishment of his step-son. More probable it is, that this
hasty murder was purely the work of Tiberius and
Livia; that the young Prince, hated and dreaded by both,
fell thus untimely, to rid the one of his apprehensions and a rival, and to
satiate in the other the rancorous spirit of a step-mother. When the Centurion,
according to the custom of the army, acquainted Tiberius,
“that his commands were executed”; he answered, “he had commanded no such
execution, and the
Edition: current; Page: [10]Centurion must appear before the Senate, and for it be
answerable to them.” This alarmed Sallustius Crispus, who
shared in all his secret counsels, and had sent the Centurion the warrant; he
dreaded that he should be arraigned for the assassination, and knew it equally
perilous either to confess the truth, and charge the Emperor; or falsly to
clear the Emperor, and accuse himself. Hence he had recourse to Livia, and warned her, “never to divulge the secrets of the
palace, never to expose to publick examination the ministers who advised, nor
the soldiers who executed. Tiberius should beware of
relaxing the Authority of the Prince, by referring all things to that of the
Senate; since it was the indispensable Prerogative of Sovereignty, for all men
to be accountable to one.”

Now at Rome, Consuls, Senators, and Roman Knights, were
all rushing with emulation into bondage; the higher the quality of each, the
more false and forward the men; all careful so to frame their faces, as to
reconcile false joy for the accession of Tiberius, with
feigned sadness for the loss of Augustus. Hence they
intermingled tears with gladness, wailings with gratulations, and all with
servile flattery. Sextus Pompeius and Sextus
Apuleius, at that time Consuls, took first the oath of fidelity to
Tiberius, then administered it to Seius
Strabo and Caius Turranius, the former Captain of the
Pretorian Guards, the other Intendant of the public stores. The oath was
Edition: current; Page: [11]next given to the Senate, to the People, and to the
Soldiery, all by the same Consuls. For Tiberius affected to
derive all publick transactions from the legal ministry of the Consuls; as if
the ancient Republick still subsisted, and he were yet unresolved about
embracing the sovereign rule. He even owned in his Edict for summoning the
Senate, that he issued it by virtue of the Tribunitial power, granted him under
Augustus. The Edict too was short, and unexceptionably
modest. It imported, that “they were to consider of the funeral honours proper
to be paid his deceased Father; for himself he would not depart from the corps;
and further than this edict implied, he claimed no share in the public
administration.” Yet from the moment Augustus was dead, he
usurped all the prerogatives of imperial State, gave the word to the Pretorian
Cohorts, had soldiers about the palace, guards about his person, went guarded
in the Street, guarded to the Senate, and bore all the marks of Majesty. Nay,
he writ Letters to the several Armies in the undisguised style of one already
their Prince; nor did he ever hesitate or speak with ambiguity about it, but
when he spoke to the Senate. The chief cause of his reserve and obscurity there
proceeded from his fear of Germanicus. He dreaded that he,
who was master of so many Legions of numberless Auxiliaries, and of all the
Allies of Rome; he, who was the darling of the people, might wish rather to
possess the Empire,
Edition: current; Page: [12]than to wait for it. He likewise aimed at false glory,
and would rather seem by the Commonwealth chosen and called to the Empire, than
to have crept darkly into it by the intrigues of a woman, or by adoption from a
superannuated Prince. It was also afterwards found, that, by this abstruseness
and counterfeit irresolution, he meant to penetrate into the designs and
inclinations of the great men; for his jealous spirit construed all their
words, all their looks, into crimes, and stored them up in his heart against a
day of vengeance.

When he first met the Senate, he would bear no other
business to be transacted but that about the Funerals of Augustus. His last will was brought in by the Vestal Virgins;
in it Tiberius and Livia were appointed
his heirs, Livia adopted into the Julian Family, and dignified with the name of Augusta. Into the next and second degree of heirship he adopted
his grandchildren and their children; and in the third degree he named the
great men of Rome, most of them hated by him; but out of vain-glory he named
them, and for future renown. His legacies were not beyond the usual bounds;
only he left to the Roman people four hundred thousand great Sesterces
a
; to the Populace or common sort, thirty-five thousand
b
; to every common Soldier of the Pretorian Guards a thousand small
Sesterces
c
,
Edition: current; Page: [13]and to every Soldier of the Roman Legions three
hundred
d
. The funeral Honours were next considered. The chief presented were
these; Asinius Gallus proposed, that “the Funeral should
pass through the Triumphal gate;” Lucius Arruntius, “that
the Titles of all the Laws which he had made, and the names of all the Nations
which he had conquered, should be carried before the corps;” Valerius Messala added, “that the Oath of Allegiance to
Tiberius should be renewed every Year”; and being asked by
Tiberius, “whether at his instigation he had made that
motion? I spoke it as my opinion, says Messala; nor will I
ever be determined by any but my own, in things which concern the Commonweal;
let who will be provoked by my freedom.” Only this new turn was wanting to
compleat the prevailing flattery of the time. The Senators then concurred in a
loud cry, “that upon their own shoulders they must bear the body to the pile.”
But Tiberius declined the offer from an arrogant shew of
moderation. Moreover he cautioned the people by an Edict, “not to disturb the
funeral functions with a zeal over-passionate, as they had those of
Julius Cæsar; nor to insist that the Corps of
Augustus should be burnt rather in the Forum, than in the
field of Mars, which was the place appointed.” On the funeral day
Edition: current; Page: [14]the Soldiers under arms kept guard; a mighty mockery
to those who had either seen, or heard their fathers describe, the day when
Cæsar the Dictator was slain. Servitude was then new, its
sorrows yet fresh and bitter; and liberty unsuccessfully retrieved by a deed,
which, while it seemed impious to some, was thought altogether glorious by
others, and hence tore Rome into tumults, and the violence of parties. They
ridiculed the Grimace of “calling an aid of soldiers to secure a peaceable
burial to a Prince, who had grown old in peace and power, and even provided
against a relapse into liberty, by a long train of successors.”

Hence much and various matter of observation concerning
Augustus. The superstitious multitude admired the
fortuitous events of his fortune; “that the last day of his life, and the first
of his reign, was the same; that he died at Nola, in the same village, in the
same house, and in the same chamber, where his father Octavius died. They observed to his glory, his many
Consulships, equal in number to those of Valerius Corvinus
and of Caius Marius, joined together: that he had exercised
the power of the Tribuneship seven and thirty years without interruption: that
he was one and twenty times proclaimed Imperator; with
many other numerous honours repeated to him, or created for him”. Men of deeper
discernment entered further into his Life, but differed about it. His admirers
said, that “his
Edition: current; Page: [15]filial piety to his father Cæsar,
and the distractions of the Republic, where the laws no longer governed, had
driven him into a civil war; which, whatever be the first cause, can never be
begun or carried on by just and gentle means. Indeed, to be revenged on the
murderers of his father, he had made many great sacrifices to Anthony; many to Lepidus. But when
Lepidus was become sunk and superannuated in sloth; when
Anthony was lost headlong in sensuality, there was then no
other remedy for the distracted State, rent piece-meal by its chiefs, but the
Sovereignty of one. Augustus, however, never had assumed to
rule over his Country as King, or Dictator; but settled the Government under
the legal name of Prince of the Senate. He had extended
the Empire, and set for its bounds the distant Ocean, and rivers far remote;
the several parts and forces of the State, the Legions, the Provinces, the
Navy, were all properly balanced and connected; the Citizens lived dutifully
under the protection of the law, the Allies in terms of respect, and Rome
itself was adorned with magnificent structures. Indeed in a few instances, he
had exerted the arbitrary violence of power; and in but a few, only to secure
the peace of the whole.”

In answer to all this, it was urged, that “his filial
piety, and the unhappy situation of the Republic, were pure pretences; but the
Edition: current; Page: [16]ardent lust of reigning, his true and only motive;
with this spirit he had solicited into his service, by bribery, a body of
veteran soldiers; and, though a private youth, levied an Army. With this spirit
he had debauched, and bought the Roman Legions under the Consuls, while he was
falsly feigning a coalition with Pompey’s republican party;
that soon after, when he had procured from the Senate, or rather usurped the
honours and authority of the Pretorship; and when Hirtius
and Pansa, the two Consuls, were slain, he seized both
their Armies; that it was doubted whether the Consuls fell by the enemy, or
whether Pansa was not killed by pouring poison into his
wounds, and Hirtius slain by his own soldiers; and whether
the young Cæsar was not the contriver of this bloody
treason; that by terror he had extorted the Consulship in spite of the Senate;
and turned against the Commonwealth the very arms with which the Commonwealth
had trusted him for her defence against Anthony. Add to all
this his cruel Proscriptions, and the Massacre of so many citizens; his seizing
from the public, and distributing to his own creatures, so many lands and
possessions; a violation of property not justified even by those who gained by
it. But, allowing him to dedicate to the Manes of the Dictator the Lives of
Brutus and Cassius (though more to his
honour, had it been to have postponed
Edition: current; Page: [17]his own personal hate to publick good), did he not
betray the young Pompey by an insidious peace, betray
Lepidus by a deceitful shew of friendship? Did he not next
ensnare Mark Anthony, first by Treaties those of Tarentum
and Brundusium; then by a
Marriage, that of his sister Octavia? And did not
Anthony, at last, pay with his life the penalty of that
subdolous alliance? After this, no doubt there was Peace, but
a bloody Peace; bloody in the
tragical defeat of Lollius, and that of Varus, in Germany; and at Rome, the Varrones, the Egnatii, the Julii, (illustrious names!) were put to death.” Nor was his
domestic life spared upon this occasion. “He had arbitrarily robbed
Nero of his wife big with child by her husband; and mocked
the Gods by consulting the Priests, whether Religion permitted him to marry her
before her delivery, or obliged him to stay till after. His minions,
Tedius, and Vedius Pollio, had lived in
scandalous and excessive luxury; his Wife Livia, who wholly
controuled him, had proved a cruel governess to the Commonwealth, and to the
Julian house a more cruel step-mother. He had even invaded the incommunicable
honours of the Gods, and, setting up for himself Temples like theirs, would,
like them, be adored in the image of a Deity, with all the sacred solemnity of
Priests and Sacrifices. Nor had he adopted Tiberius for his
successor, either
Edition: current; Page: [18]out of affection for him, or from concern for the
public welfare; but having discovered in him a spirit proud and cruel, he
sought future glory from the blackest opposition and comparison.” For,
Augustus, when, a few years before, he solicited the Senate
to grant to Tiberius another term of the authority of the
Tribuneship, though he mentioned him with honour, yet taking notice of his odd
humour, behaviour, and manners, dropt some expressions, which, while they
seemed to excuse him, exposed and upbraided him.

As soon as the funeral of Augustus
was over, a Temple and divine worship were forthwith decreed him. The Senate
then turned their supplications to Tiberius, to fill his
vacant place; but received an abstruse answer, touching the greatness of the
Empire, and his own distrust of himself. He said, that “nothing but the divine
genius of Augustus was equal to the mighty task; for
himself, who had been called by him into a participation of his cares, he had
learnt by feeling them, what a daring, what a difficult toil was that of
Government, and how perpetually subject to the caprices of fortune; that in a
State supported by so many illustrious Patriots, they ought not to cast the
whole administration upon one; and more easy to be administered were the
several offices of the Government by the united pains and sufficiency of many.”
A Speech much more
Edition: current; Page: [19]specious and sounding than cordial and sincere.
Tiberius, even upon subjects which needed no disguises,
used words dark and cautious; perhaps from his diffident nature, perhaps from a
habit of dissembling. At this juncture indeed, as he laboured wholly to hide
his heart, his language was the more carefully wrapt up in equivoques and
obscurity. But the Senators, who dreaded nothing so much as to seem to
understand him, burst into tears, plaints and vows. With extended arms they
supplicated the Gods, invoked the image of Augustus, and
embraced the knees of Tiberius. He then commanded the
imperial Register to be produced and recited. It contained a summary of the
strength and income of the Empire, the number of Romans and auxiliaries in pay,
the condition of the navy, of the several Kingdoms paying tribute, and of the
various provinces and their revenues, with the state of the public expence, the
issues of the exchequer, and all the demands upon the public. This Register was
all written by the hand of Augustus; and in it he had
subjoined his counsel to posterity, that the present boundaries of the Empire
should stand fixed without further enlargement. Whether this counsel was
dictated by fear for the public, or by envy towards his successors, is
uncertain.

Now when the Senate was stooping to the vilest
importunity and prostrations, Tiberius happened to say,
that, “as he was unequal to the weight of the whole government, so if
Edition: current; Page: [20]they entrusted him with any particular part, whatever
it were, he would undertake it.” Here Asinius Gallus
interposed. “I beg to know, Cæsar, says he, what part of
the government you desire for your share?” He was astonied with the unexpected
question, and, for a short space, mute; but recovering himself, answered, that
“it ill became his modesty to chuse or reject any particular branch of the
administration, when he desired rather to be excused from the whole.”
Gallus, who from his looks inferred deep displeasure, again
accosted him, and said, “By this question I did not mean that you should share
that power which cannot be separated; but to reason you into a confession, that
the Commonwealth is but one body, and can be governed only by one soul.” He
added an encomium upon Augustus, and reminded
Tiberius himself of his many victories, of the many civil
employments which he had long and nobly sustained. Nor even thus could he
mollify the wrath of Tiberius, who had long hated him, for
that Gallus had married Vipsania,
daughter of Marcus Agrippa, formerly wife to Tiberius, who thence suspected that he meant to soar above the
rank of a subject, and possessed too the bold and haughty spirit of
Asinius Pollio his father.

Lucius Arruntius incurred his displeasure next, by a speech not
much unlike that of Gallus. It is true, that towards him
Tiberius bore no old rancour; but ArruntiusEdition: current; Page: [21]had mighty opulence, prompt parts, noble
accomplishments, with equal popularity and renown; and hence was marked by him
with a fell eye of suspicion. For, as Augustus, shortly
before his decease, was mentioning those among the great men, who were capable
of the supreme power, but would not accept it; or unequal to it, yet wished for
it; or such as had both ambition and sufficiency; he had said, that “Marcus Lepidus was qualified, but would reject it;
Asinius would be aspiring, but had inferior talents; and
that Lucius Arruntius wanted no sufficiency, and, upon a
proper occasion, would attempt it.” That he spoke thus of Lepidus and Asinius, is agreed; but,
instead of Arruntius, some writers have transmitted the
name of Cneius Piso: and every one of these great men,
except Lepidus, were afterwards cut off, under the
imputation of various crimes, all darkly framed by Tiberius.
Quintus Haterius, and Mamercus Scaurus did also
incense his distrustful spirit; the first by asking him, “How long,
Cæsar, wilt thou suffer the Commonwealth to remain
destitute of a head?” Scaurus, because he had said, There
was room to hope that the prayers of the Senate would not prove abortive, since
he had not interposed the Tribunitial power, and thence obstructed the motion
of the Consuls in his behalf.” With Haterius he fell into
instant rage. Towards Scaurus his resentment was more deep
and implacable,
Edition: current; Page: [22]and in profound silence he hid it. Wearied at last
with public importunity and clamour, and with particular expostulations, he
began to unbend a little; not that he would own his undertaking the Empire, but
only avoid the uneasiness of perpetual solicitations and refusals. It is
certain, that Haterius, when he went next day to the Palace
to implore pardon, and throwing himself at the feet of Tiberius embraced his knees, narrowly escaped being slain by
the soldiers; because Tiberius, who was walking, tumbled
down, whether by chance, or whether his legs were entangled in the arms of
Haterius. Neither was he a jot mollified by the danger
which threatened so great a man, who was at length forced to supplicate
Augusta for protection; nor could even she obtain it, but
after the most laboured entreaties.

Towards Livia likewise exorbitant was the flattering
court of the Senate. Some were for decreeing her the general title of
Mother; others the more particular one of Mother of her Country; and almost all proposed, that to the
name of Tiberius should be added, The Son
of JULIA.Tiberius urged in answer, that “public
honours to women ought to be adjudged with a sparing hand; and that with the
same measure of moderation he would receive such as were presented to himself.”
In truth, from envy and solicitude, lest his own grandeur should sink as that
of his mother rose, he would not suffer so much as a Lictor to be
Edition: current; Page: [23]decreed her, and even forbad the raising her an Altar
upon her late adoption, or paying her any such solemnities. Yet, for
Germanicus he asked the Proconsular power; and, to carry
him that dignity, honourable deputies were sent, as also to mollify his sorrow
for the death of Augustus. If for Drusus he demanded not the same honour, it was because
Drusus was present, and already Consul designed. He then
named twelve candidates for the Prætorship, the same number settled by
Augustus; and, though the Senate requested him to increase
it, he bound himself by an oath never to exceed.

The privilege of creating Magistrates was now first
translated from the assemblies of the people to the Senate. For though the
Emperor had before conducted all affairs of moment at his pleasure; yet till
that day, some were still transacted by the Tribes, and carried by their bent
and suffrages. Neither did the regret of the people for the seizure of these
their ancient rights, rise higher than some impotent grumbling. The Senate too
liked the change, as by it they were released from the charge of buying votes,
and from the shame of begging them. And so moderate was Tiberius, that, of the twelve Candidates, he only reserved to
himself the recommendation of four, to be accepted without opposition or
caballing. At the same time, the Tribunes of the people asked leave to
celebrate, at their own expence, certain plays in honour of Augustus, such as were to be
Edition: current; Page: [24]called after his name, and inserted in the calendar.
But it was decreed, that out of the Exchequer the charge should be defrayed,
and the Tribunes should in the Circus wear the triumphal robe; but to be
carried in chariots was denied them. The annual celebration of these plays was,
for the future, transferred to one of the Prætors, him in particular to whom
should fall the jurisdiction of deciding suits between citizens and
strangers.

Thus stood affairs at Rome when a sedition seized the
Legions in Pannonia; without any fresh grounds, save that from a change of
Princes they meant to assume a warrant for licentiousness and tumult, and from
a civil war hoped great earnings and acquisitions. They were three Legions
encamped together, all commanded by Junius Blesus, who upon
notice of the death of Augustus, and the accession of
Tiberius, had granted the soldiers a recess from their
wonted duties for some days, as a time either of public mourning or festivity.
From being idle they waxed wanton, quarrelsom, and turbulent; greedily listened
to mutinous discourses; the most profligate amongst them had most credit with
them, and at last they became passionate sor a life of lise and riot, utterly
averse to all military discipline and every fatigue of the camp. In the camp
was one Percennius; formerly a busy leader in the
embroilments of the theatre, and now a common soldier; a fellow of a petulant
declaiming tongue, and, by inflaming parties in
Edition: current; Page: [25]the playhouse, well qualified to excite and infatuate
a crowd. This incendiary practised upon the ignorant and unwary, such as were
solicitous what might prove their future usage, now Augustus was dead. He engaged them in nightly confabulations,
and, by little and little, incited them to violence and disorders; and, towards
the evening, when the soberest and best affected were withdrawn, he assembled
the worst and most turbulent. When he had thus ripened them for sedition, and
other ready incendiaries were combined with him, he personated the character of
a lawful Commander, and thus questioned and harangued them:

“Why did they obey, like slaves, a few Centurions, and a
fewer Tribunes? When would they be bold enough to demand redress of their heavy
grievances, unless they snatched the present occasion, while the Emperor was
yet new, and his authority wavering, to prevail with him by petition, or by
arms to force him? They had already, by the misery of many years, paid dear for
their patient sloth, and stupid silence, since, decrepid with age, and maimed
with wounds, aster a course of service for thirty or forty years, they were
still doomed to carry arms. Nor, even to those who were discharged, was there
any end of the misery of warfare; they were still kept tied to the colours,
and, under the creditable title of Veterans, endured the same hardships, and
underwent the same labours. But suppose any of them escaped so
Edition: current; Page: [26]many dangers, and survived so many calamities, where
was their reward at last? A long and weary march remained yet to be taken into
countries far remote and strange, where, under the name of lands given them to
cultivate, they had inhospitable boggs to drain, and the wild wastes of
mountains to manure. Severe and ungainful of itself was the occupation of war;
ten As’s a day the poor price of their persons and lives; out of this they must
buy cloaths, and tents, and arms; out of this bribe the cruel Centurions, for a
forbearance of blows, and occasional exemption from hard duty. But stripes from
their officers, and wounds from their enemies, hard winters and laborious
summers, bloody wars and barren peace, were miseries without end; nor remained
there other cure or relief than to refuse to list but upon conditions certain,
and fixed by themselves; particularly, that their pay be a Denarius or sixteen
As’s a day, sixteen years be the utmost term of serving; when discharged, to be
no longer obliged to follow the colours, but to have their reward, in ready
money, paid them in the camp where they earned it. Did the Prætorian guards,
they who had double pay, they who, after sixteen years service, were paid off
and sent home, bear severer difficulties, undergo superior dangers? He did not
mean to detract from the merit of their brethren the City guards; their own
harder lot however was, to be placed amongst
Edition: current; Page: [27]horrid and barbarous nations, nor could they look from
their tents, but they saw the foe.”

The whole crowd received this harangue with shouts of
applause; but from various instigations. Some displayed upon their bodies the
impressions of stripes, others their hoary heads, many their vestments ragged
and curtailed, with backs utterly bare; as did all, their various griefs in the
bitterness of reproach. At length to such excessive fury they grew, that they
proposed to incorporate the three Legions into one; nor by ought but emulation
was the project defeated: for, to his own Legion, every man claimed the
prerogative of swallowing and denominating the other two. They took another
method, and placed the three Eagles of the Legions, with the Standards of the
several Cohorts, all together, without rank or priority; then forthwith digged
turf, and were rearing a Tribunal, one high enough to be seen at a distance. In
this hurry arrived Blesus, who, falling into sore rebukes,
and by force interrupting particulars, called with vehemence to all; “Dip your
hands rather in my blood. To murder your General, will be a crime less shameful
and heinous, than to revolt from your Prince: for, determined I am, either to
preserve the Legions in their faith and obedience, if you kill me not for my
intended good office; or my death, if I fall by your hands, shall hasten your
remorse.”

For all this, turfs were accumulated, and the work was
already breast-high, when, at
Edition: current; Page: [28]last, overcome by his spirit and perseverance, they
forbore. Blesus was an able speaker; he told them, “that
sedition and mutiny were not the methods of conveying to the Emperor the
pretensions of the soldiers; their demands too were new and singular; such as
neither the soldiers of old had ever made to the ancient Generals, nor they
themselves to the deified Augustus: besides, their claims
were ill-timed, when the Prince, just upon his accession, was already
embarrassed with the weight and variety of other cares. If however they meant
to try to gain in full peace those concessions, which, even after a civil war,
the conquerors never claimed; yet why trample upon duty and obedience, why
reject the laws of the army, and rules of discipline? And if they meant to
petition, why meditate violence? They might at least appoint deputies; and in
his presence trust them with their pretensions.” Here they all cried out, “that
the son of Blesus, one of their Tribunes, should execute
that deputation; and demand, in their name, that, after sixteen years service,
they should be discharged. They said, they would give him new orders, when he
had succeeded in these.” After the departure of the young officer, a moderate
recess ensued. The soldiers however exulted to have carried such a point: the
sending the son of their General, as the public advocate for their cause, was
to them full proof, that they had gained, by force and terror, that which, by
Edition: current; Page: [29]modesty and gentle means, they would never have
gained.

In the mean time those companies, which, before the
sedition began, were sent to Nauportum, to mend roads and bridges, and upon
other duties, no sooner heard of the uproar in the camp, but they cast off all
obedience, tore away the ensigns, and plundered the neighbouring villages. Even
Nauportum itself, which for greatness resembled a municipal City, was
plundered. The endeavours of the Centurions to restrain this violence, were
first returned with mockery and contempt, then with invectives and contumelies,
at last with outrage and blows. Their vengeance was chiefly bent against the
Camp-Marshal, Aufidienus Rufus: him they dragged from his
chariot, and loading him with baggage, drove him before the first ranks. They
then insulted him, and asked in scorn, “whether he would gladly bear such
enormous burdens; whether endure such immense marches?” Rufus had been long a common soldier, then became a Centurion,
and afterwards Camp-Marshal; a severe restorer of primitive strictness and
discipline; an indefatigable observer of every military duty, which he exacted
from others with the more rigour, as he had himself undergone them with all
patience.

By the arrival of this tumultuous band, the sedition was
again awakened to its former outrage, and the Seditious roving abroad without
controul, ravaged the county on every side.
Edition: current; Page: [30]Blesus, for an example of terror
to the rest, commanded those who were most laden with plunder, to be punished
with stripes, and cast into prison. For the General was still dutifully obeyed
by the Centurions, and by all the soldiers of any merit. But the criminals
refused to submit, and even struggled with the guard who were carrying them
off: They clasped the knees of the by-standers, implored help from their
fellows; now calling upon every individual, and conjuring them by their
particular names; then appealed to them in a body, and supplicated the Company,
the Cohort, the Legion, to which they belonged; warning and proclaiming, that
the same ignominy and chastisement hung over them all. With the same breath
they heaped invectives without measure upon their General, and called upon
heaven and all the Gods to be their witnesses and avengers; nor left they ought
unattempted to raise effectual hatred, compassion, terror, and every species of
fury. Hence the whole body rushed to their relief, burst open the prison,
unbound and rescued the prisoners. Thus they owned for their brethren, and
incorporated with themselves, infamous revolters, and traitors convict and
condemned.

Hence the violence became more raging, and hence more
sedition from more leaders. There was particularly one Vibulenus a common soldier, who, exalted on the shoulders of
his comrades, before the tribunal of Blesus, thus declaimed
in the ears of a multitude already
Edition: current; Page: [31]outrageous, and eager to hear what he had to say. “To
these innocents, says he, to these miserable sufferers, our fellow soldiers,
you have indeed restored breath and liberty; but, who will restore life to my
poor brother; who my poor brother to me? He was sent hither by the German
armies, with propositions for our common good; and for this, was last night
butchered by the same Blesus, who in the murder employed
his gladiators, bloody men, whom he purposely entertains and arms for our
common execution: where, oh Blesus, hast thou thrown his
mangled corps? Even open enemies do not inhumanly deny burial to the slain.
When I have satiated my sorrow with a thousand kisses, and a flood of tears,
command me also to be murdered, that these our brethren may together bury my
poor brother and me, slaughtered both as victims, yet both guiltless of any
crime, but that of studying the common interest of the Legions.”

He inflamed those his complaints and expostulations,
with affecting sighs and lamentations, beat his breast, and tore his face.
Then, those who carried him, giving way, he throwed himself headlong at the
feet of his companions; and thus prostrate and supplicating, in them raised
such a spirit of commiseration, and such a storm of vengeance, that one party
of them seized and bound the General’s gladiators; another, the rest of his
family; while many ran and dispersed themselves to search for the
Edition: current; Page: [32]corps: and, had it not been quickly manifest that
there was no corps to be found, that the slaves of Blesus
had upon the rack cleared themselves, and that Vibulenus
never had any brother; they had gone nigh to have sacrificed the General. As it
was, they expulsed the Camp-Marshal and Tribunes, and, as they fled, plundered
their baggage. They likewise put to death Lucilius the
Centurion, whom they had sarcastically named Cede alteram,
because when upon the back of a soldier he had broken one wand, he was wont to
call for another, then a third. The other Centurions lurked in concealment, all
but Julius Clemens, who, for his prompt capacity, was saved
in order to manage the negociations of the Soldiers. Even two of the Legions,
the eighth and the fifteenth, were ready to turn their swords upon each other;
and had, but for the ninth. One Sirpicus, a Centurion, was
the subject of the quarrel: him the eighth required to be put to death; the
fifteenth protected him; but the ninth interposed with entreaties to both, and
with threats to those who would not listen to prayers.

Tiberius, however close and impenetrable, and ever
labouring to smother all melancholy tidings, was yet driven by those from
Pannonia, to dispatch his son Drusus thither, accompanied
by the principal nobility, and guarded by two Prætorian cohorts; but charged
with no precise instructions, only to adapt his measures to the present
exigency. The cohorts
Edition: current; Page: [33]were strengthened with an extraordinary addition of
chosen men, with the greatest part of the Prætorian horse, and main body of the
German, then the Emperor’s guards. Ælius Sejanus, lately
joined with his father Strabo in the command of the
Prætorian bands, was also sent, not only as governor to the young Prince, but,
as his credit with the Emperor was known to be mighty, to deal with the
revolters by promises and terrors. When Drusus approached,
the Legions, for shew of respect, marched out to meet him, not with the usual
symptoms and shouts of joy, nor with gay ensigns and arms glittering, but in a
dress and accountrements hideous and squalid. In their countenances too, though
composed to sadness, were seen greater marks of sullenness and contumacy.

As soon as he was within the camp, they secured the
entrances with guards, and in several quarters of it placed parties upon duty.
The rest crouded about the Tribunal of Drusus, who stood
beckoning with his hand for silence. Here, as often as they surveyed their own
numbers, and met one another’s resentful looks, they uttered their rage in
horrible cries: Again, when they beheld Cæsar upon the
Tribunal, awe and trembling seized them. Now, there prevailed an hollow and
inarticulate murmur; next, a furious clamour; then, suddenly, a dead silence.
So that, by a hasty succession of opposite passions, they were at once dismayed
and dreadful. When, at last, the uproar
Edition: current; Page: [34]was staid, he read his father’s letters, who in them
declared, “that he would take an affectionate care of the brave and invincible
legions, by whom he had sustained successfully so many wars; and, as soon as
his grief was a little abated, deal with the Senate about their demands; in the
mean time he had sent them his son, on purpose to make them forthwith all the
concessions, which could instantly be made them: the rest were to be reserved
for the Senate, the proper distributors of rewards and punishments by a right
altogether unalienable.”

The assembly answered, that to Julius Clemens
they had intrusted what to speak in their name: he began with their demands,
“to be discharged after sixteen years service, to have the reward which, for
past services upon that discharge, they claimed; their pay to be increased to a
Roman Denarius; the veterans to be no longer detained under their ensigns.”
When Drusus urged, that wholly in the judgment of the
Senate and his father these matters rested; he was interrupted by their
clamours: “To what purpose came he; since he could neither augment their pay,
nor alleviate their grievances? and while every officer was allowed to inflict
upon them blows and death, the son of their Emperor wanted power to relieve
them by one beneficent action. This was the policy of the late reign, when
Tiberius frustrated every request of the soldiers, by
referring all to Augustus; now DrususEdition: current; Page: [35]was come, with the same artifices to delude them. Were
they never to have a higher visit than from the children of their Prince? It
was, indeed, unaccountable, that to the Senate the Emperor should leave no part
in the direction of the army, only the rewarding of the soldiery. Ought not the
same Senate to be consulted as often as a battle was to be fought, or a private
man to be punished? or, were their recompences to be adjudged by many masters,
but their punishments to remain without any restraint or moderator
whatsoever?”

At last, they abandoned the Tribunal, and with menaces
and insults fell upon all they met, belonging to Drusus
either as guards or friends; meditating thus to provoke a quarrel, and an
introduction to blood. Chiefly enraged they were against Cneius
Lentulus, as one, for years and warlike renown, superior to any about the
person of Drusus, and thence suspected to have hardened the
Prince, and been himself the foremost to despise these outrages in the
soldiery. Nor was it long after, that, as he was leaving Drusus, and, from the foresight of danger, returning to the
winter quarters, they surrounded him, and demanded, “whither he went? to the
Emperor or Senate? there also to exercise his enmity to the legions, and oppose
their interest?” and instantly assaulted him with stones. He was already
covered with wounds and blood, and awaiting certain assassination,
Edition: current; Page: [36]when the troops attending Drusus
flew to his assistance, and saved him.

The following night had a formidable aspect, and
threatened the speedy eruption of some tragical vengeance, when a phenomenon
intervened and asswaged all. The Moon, in the midst of a clear sky, seemed to
the soldiers suddenly to sicken; and they who were ignorant of the natural
cause, took this for an omen foreboding the issue of their present adventures.
To their own labours they compared the eclipse of the planet, and prophesied,
“that, if to the distressed Goddess should be restored her wonted brightness
and vigour, equally successful would be the issue of these their struggles.”
Hence they strove to charm and revive her with sounds, and, by ringing upon
brasen metal, and an uproar of trumpets and cornets, made a vehement bellowing.
As she appeared brighter or darker, they exulted or lamented: but when
gathering clouds had utterly bereft them of her sight, and they believed her
now buried in everlasting darkness; then, as minds once throughly dismayed are
pliant to superstition, they bewailed “their own eternal sufferings thus
portended, and that against their misdeeds the angry deities were contending.”
Drusus, who thought it behoved him to improve this
disposition of theirs, and to reap the fruits of wisdom from the operations of
chance; ordered certain persons to go round, and apply to them
Edition: current; Page: [37]from tent to tent. For this purpose, he called and
employed the Centurion Julius Clemens, and whoever else
were by honest methods acceptable to the multitude. These insinuated themselves
every-where, with those who kept watch, or were upon patrol, or guarded the
gates, soothing all with hopes, and by terrors rousing them: “How long, said
they, shall we hold the son of our Emperor thus besieged? Where will our broils
and wild contentions end? Shall we swear allegiance to Percennius and Vibulenus? Will
Vibulenus and Percennius support us
with pay during our service, and reward us with lands when dismissed? In short,
shall two common men dispossess the Neros and the
Drusi, and to themselves assume the Empire of the Roman
people? Let us be wiser; and as we were the last to revolt, be the first to
relent. Such demands as comprize terms for all, are ever slowly accorded: but
particulars may, when they please, merit instant favour, and instantly receive
it.” These reasonings alarmed them, and filled them with mutual jealousies.
Presently the fresh soldiers forsook the Veterans, one Legion separated from
another; then by degrees returned the love of duty and obedience. They
relinquished the guard of the gates; and the Eagles and other ensigns, which in
the beginning of the tumult they had thrown together, were now restored each to
its distinct station.

Edition: current; Page: [38]

Drusus, as soon as it was day, summoned an assembly, and
though unskilled in speaking, yet with a haughtiness inherent in his blood,
rebuked their past, and commended their present behaviour: “With threats and
terrors, he said, it was impossible to subdue him; but if he saw them reclaimed
to submission, if from them he heard the language of supplicants, he would send
to his father to accept with a reconciled spirit the petitions of the Legions.”
Hence, at their entreaty, for their deputy to Tiberius, the
same Blesus was again dispatched, and with him
Lucius Apronius, a Roman Knight, and intimate companion of
Drusus, and Justus Catonius, a
Centurion of the first order. There followed great debates in the council of
Drusus, while some advised “to suspend all proceeding till
the return of the deputies, and by a course of courtesy the while to sooth the
soldiers; others maintained, that remedies more potent must needs be applied:
in a multitude was to be found nothing on this side extremes; always imperious
where they are not awed, and to be despised without danger when frightened. To
their present terror from superstition was to be added the dread of their
General, by his dooming to death the authors of the sedition.” Rather prompt to
rigorous counsels was the genius of Drusus. Vibulenus and
Percennius were produced, and by his command executed. It
is by many recounted, that in
Edition: current; Page: [39]his own tent they were secretly dispatched and buried;
by others, that their bodies were ignominiously thrown over the entrenchments,
for a public spectacle of terror.

Search was then made for other remarkable incendiaries.
Some were caught skulking without the camp, and there by the Centurions or
Prætorian soldiers slain. Others were by their several companies delivered up,
as a proof of their own fidelity. The consternation of the soldiers was
heightened by the precipitate accession of winter, with rains incessant, and so
violent, that they were unable to stir from their tents, or maintain common
intercourse, nay scarce to preserve their standards, assaulted continually by
tempestuous winds and raging floods. Dread besides of the angry Gods still
possessed them; “nor was it at random, they thought, that such profane traitors
were thus visited with black eclipses, and roaring tempests; neither against
these their calamities was there other relief than the relinquishing of a camp
by impiety contaminated and accursed, and, after expiation of their guilt,
returning to their several garisons.” The eighth legion departed first; then
the fifteenth: the ninth, with earnest clamours, pressed for continuing there
till the letters from Tiberius arrived; but when deserted
by the other two, their courage failed, and by following of their own accord,
they prevented the shame of being forced. Drusus seeing
order and tranquillity thus restored,
Edition: current; Page: [40]without staying for the return of the Deputies,
returned himself to Rome.

Almost at the same time, and from the same causes, the
legions in Germany raised an insurrection, with greater numbers, and thence
with more fury. Passionate too were their hopes that Germanicus would never brook the rule of another, but yield to
the spirit of the legions, who had force sufficient to bring the whole Empire
under his sway. Upon the Rhine were two armies; that called the higher,
commanded by Caius Silius, Lieutenant-General; the lower,
by Aulus Cæcina. The command in chief rested in
Germanicus, then busy collecting the tribute in Gaul. The
forces however under Silius, with cautious ambiguity,
watched the success of the revolt which others began: for the soldiers of the
lower army had broken out into open outrages, which began from the fifth
legion, and the one and twentieth, who drew after them the first and the
twentieth. These were altogether upon the frontiers of the Ubians, passing the
campaign in utter idleness, or light duty: so that upon the news that
Augustus was dead, the whole swarm of new soldiers lately
levied in the city, men accustomed to the effeminacies of Rome, and impatient
of every military hardship, began to possess the ignorant minds of the rest
with many turbulent expectations, “that now was presented the lucky juncture
for Veterans to demand intire dismission; the fresh soldiers, larger
Edition: current; Page: [41]pay; and all, some mitigation of their miseries; as
also to return due vengeance for the cruelties of the Centurions.” These were
not the harangues of a single incendiary, like Percennius
amongst the Pannonian legions; nor uttered, as there, in the ears of men, who,
while they saw before their eyes armies greater than their own, mutinied with
awe and trembling: But here was a sedition of many mouths, filled with many
boasts, “that in their hands lay the power and fate of Rome; by their victories
the Empire was inlarged, and from them the Cæsars took, as
a compliment, the surname of Germanicus.”

Neither did Cæcina strive to
restrain them. A madness so extensive had berest him of all his bravery and
firmness. In this precipitate frenzy they rushed at once, with swords drawn,
upon the Centurions, the eternal objects of their resentment, and always the
first victims to their vengeance. Them they dragged to the earth, and upon each
bestowed a terrible portion of sixty blows; a number proportioned to that of
Centurions in a legion. Then bruised, mangled, and half expiring, as they were,
they cast them all out of the camp, some into the stream of the Rhine.
Septimius, who had for refuge fled to the tribunal of
Cæcina, and lay clasping his feet, was demanded with such
imperious vehemence, that he was forced to be surrendered to destruction.
Cassius Cherea (afterwards famous to posterity
Edition: current; Page: [42]for killing Caligula) then a young
man of undaunted spirit, and one of the Centurions, boldly opened himself a
passage with his sword through a crowd of armed foes striving to seize him.
After this no further authority remained to the Tribunes, none to the
Camp-Marshals. The seditious soldiers were their own officers; set the watch,
appointed the guard, and gave all orders proper in the present exigency. Hence
those who dived deepest into the spirit of the soldiery, gathered a special
indication how powerful and obdurate the present insurrection was like to
prove; for in their conduct were no marks of a rabble, where every man’s will
guides him, or the instigation of a few controuls the whole. Here, all at once
they raged, and all at once kept silence; with so much concert and steadiness,
that you would have believed them under the sovereign direction of one.

To Germanicus the while, then receiving, as I have said,
the tribute in Gaul, news were brought of the decease of Augustus, whose grand-daughter Agrippina he
had to wife, and by her many children. He was himself the grandson of
Livia, by her son Drusus the brother of
Tiberius; but ever under heavy anxiety from the secret hate
which his uncle and grandmother bore him; hate the more virulent, as its
grounds were altogether unrighteous. For, dear and adored was the memory of his
father Drusus amongst the Roman people, and from him was
firmly expected,
Edition: current; Page: [43]that had he succeeded to the Empire, he would have
restored public liberty. Hence their zeal for Germanicus,
and of him the same hopes conceived; as from his youth he possessed a popular
spirit, and marvellous affability, utterly remote from the comportment and
address of Tiberius, ever haughty and mysterious. The
animosities too between the ladies administered fresh fuel, while, towards
Agrippina, Livia was actuated by the despight natural to
step-mothers: and over-tempestuous was the indignation of Agrippina; only that her known chastity, and love for her
husband, always gave her mind, however vehement, a virtuous turn.

But Germanicus, the nearer he stood to supreme rule, the
more vigour he exerted to secure it to Tiberius; to whom he
obliged the Sequanians, a neighbouring people, as also the several Belgic
cities, to swear present allegiance; and the moment he learnt the uproar of the
legions, posted thither. He found them advanced without the camp to receive
him, with eyes cast down, in feigned token of remorse. After he entered the
entrenchments, instantly his ears were filled with plaints and grievances,
uttered in hideous and mixt clamours. Nay, some catching his hand, as if they
meant to kiss it, thrust his fingers into their mouths, to feel their gums
destitute of teeth; others shewed their limbs enfeebled, and bodies stooping
under old age. As he saw the assembly mixt at random, he commanded
Edition: current; Page: [44]them “to range themselves into companies, thence more
distinctly to hear his answers; as also to place before them their several
Ensigns; that the cohorts at least might be distinguished.” With slowness and
reluctance they obeyed him. Then beginning with an encomium upon the “venerable
memory of Augustus,” he proceeded to the “many victories
and many triumphs of Tiberius, and with peculiar praises
celebrated the glorious and immortal deeds, which with these very legions he
had accomplished in Germany;” he next boasted the quiet state of things, the
consent of all Italy, the loyal faith of both the Gauls; and every quarter of
the Roman state exempt from disaffection and disorders.

Thus far they listened with silence, at least with
moderate murmuring; but the moment he touched their sedition, and questioned,
“where now was the wonted modesty of soldiers? where the glory of ancient
discipline? whither had they chased their Tribunes, whither their Centurions?”
to a man, they stripped themselves to the skin, and there exposed the seams of
their wounds, and bruises of their chastisements, in the rage of reproach. Then
in the undistinguished voice of uproar, they urged, “the exactions for
occasional exemptions; their scanty pay; and their rigorous labours;” which
they represented in a long detail; “ramparts to be reared; entrenchments
digged, trees felled and drawn; forage
Edition: current; Page: [45]cut and carried; fuel prepared and fetched;” with
every other article of toil required by the exigencies of war, or to prevent
idleness in the soldiery. Above all, from the Veterans arose a cry most
vehement and furious: they enumerated thirty years or upwards undergone in the
service, “and besought, that, to men utterly spent, he would administer
respite, nor suffer them to be beholden to death for the last relief from their
toils; but discharge them from a warfare so lasting and severe, and grant them
the means of a comfortable recess.” Nay, some there were who required of him
the money bequeathed them by Augustus; and towards
Germanicus uttering zealous vows, with omens of happy
fortune, declared their cordial attachment to his cause, if he would himself
assume the Empire. Here, as if already stained with their treason, he leaped
headlong from the Tribunal; but with swords drawn they opposed his departure,
and threatened his life, if he refused to return: yet, with passionate
protestations, that “he would rather die than be a traitor,” he snatched his
sword from his side, and aiming full at his breast, would have buried it there,
had not those who were next him seized his hand, and by force restrained him. A
cluster of soldiers in the extremity of the assembly, exhorted him, nay, what
is incredible to hear, some particulars advancing nearer, exhorted him,
to strike home. In truth, one Calusidius, a common soldier,
Edition: current; Page: [46]presented him his naked sword, and added, “it is
sharper than your own;” a behaviour which to the rest, outrageous as they were,
seemed savage, and of horrid example. Hence, the friends of Germanicus had time to snatch him away to his tent.

It was here consulted what remedy to apply; for it was
advised, that “ministers of sedition were preparing to be dispatched to the
other army, to draw them too into a confederacy in the revolt; that the capital
of the Ubians was destined to be sacked; and if their hands were once inured to
plunder, they would break in, and ravage all Gaul.” This dread was augmented by
another: the enemy knew of the sedition in the Roman army, and were ready to
invade the Empire, if its barrier the Rhine were left unguarded. Now, to arm
the allies and the auxiliaries of Rome, and lead them against the departing
Legions, was to rouse a civil war: severity was dangerous; the way of largesses
infamous; and alike threatning it was to the State, to grant the turbulent
soldiers nothing, or yield them every thing. After revolving every reason and
objection, the result was, to feign letters and directions from Tiberius, “that those who had served twenty years should be
finally discharged; such as had served sixteen be under the ensign and
privilege of Veterans, released from every duty, but that of repulsing the
enemy; and the legacy
Edition: current; Page: [47]which they demanded, should be paid and doubled.”

The soldiers, who perceived, that, purely to evade
present difficulty, the concessions were forged, insisted to have them
forthwith executed; and instantly the Tribunes dispatched the discharge of the
Veterans. That of the money was adjourned to their several winter-quarters: but
the fifth Legion, and the one and twentieth, refused to stir, till in that very
camp they were paid; so that out of the money reserved by himself and his
friends for travelling expences, Germanicus was obliged to
raise the sum. Cæcina, Lieutenant-General, led the first
Legion and twentieth, back to the capital of the Ubians; an infamous march,
when the plunder of their General’s coffers was carried amidst the Ensigns and
Roman Eagles. Germanicus, the while, proceeding to the army
in higher Germany, brought the second, thirteenth and sixteenth Legions to
swear allegiance without hesitation: to the fourteenth, who manifested some
short suspense, he made, unasked, a tender of their money, and a present
discharge.

But a party of Veterans which belonged to the disorderly
Legions, and then in garison among the Chaucians, as they began a sedition
there, were somewhat quelled by the instant execution of two of their body; an
execution commanded by Mennius, Camp-Marshal, and rather of
good example, than done by competent authority. The tumult
Edition: current; Page: [48]however swelling again with fresh rage, he fled, but
was discovered; so that, finding no safety in lurking, from his own bravery he
drew his defence, and declared, “that to himself, who was only their
Camp-Marshal, these their outrages were not done, but done to the authority of
Germanicus their General, to the Majesty of Tiberius their Emperor.” At the same time, braving and
dismaying all that would have stopped him, he fiercely snatched the colours,
faced about towards the Rhine, and, pronouncing the doom of traitors and
deserters to every man who forsook his ranks, brought them back to their
winter-quarters, mutinous, in truth, but not daring to mutiny.

In the mean time the deputies from the Senate met
Germanicus at the altar of the Ubians, whither in his
return he was arrived. Two Legions wintered there, the first, and twentieth,
with the soldiers lately placed under the standard of Veterans; men already
under the distractions of guilt and fear: and now a new terror possessed them,
that these Senators were come armed with injunctions to cancel every concession
which they had by sedition extorted; and, as it is the custom of the crowd to
be ever charging some body with the crimes suggested by their own false alarms,
the guilt of this imaginary decree they laid upon Minutius
Plancus, a Senator of consular dignity, and at the head of this
deputation. In the dead of night, they began to clamour aloud for the purple
standard placed in the quarters
Edition: current; Page: [49]of Germanicus; and rushing
tumultuously to his gate, burst the doors, dragged the Prince out of his bed,
and with menaces of present death, compelled him to deliver the standard. Then,
as they roved about the camp, they met the Deputies; who having learnt the
outrage, were hastening to Germanicus: upon them they
poured a deluge of contumelies, and were devoting them to present slaughter;
Plancus chiefly, whom the dignity of his character had
restrained from flight; nor in this mortal danger had he other refuge than the
quarters of the first Legion, where, embracing the Eagle, and other ensigns, he
sought sanctuary from the religious veneration ever paid them. But, in spite of
religion, had not Calpurnius the Eagle-bearer by force
defeated the violent assault, in the Roman camp had been slain an Ambassador of
the Roman people, and with his blood the inviolable altars of the Gods had been
stained; a barbarity rare even in the camp of an enemy. At last, day returning,
when the General, and the soldiers, and their actions could be distinguished,
Germanicus entered the camp; and commanding Plancus to be brought, seated him by himself upon the tribunal:
he then inveighed against the late “pernicious frenzy, which in it, he said,
had fatality, and was rekindled by no despite in the soldiers, but by that of
the angry Gods.” He explained the genuine purposes of that Embassy, and
lamented with affecting eloquence “the outrage committed upon Plancus, altogether
Edition: current; Page: [50]brutal and unprovoked; the foul violence done to the
sacred person of an Ambassador, and the mighty disgrace from thence derived
upon the Legion.” Yet as the assembly shewed more stupefaction than calmness,
he dismissed the Deputies under a guard of auxiliary horse.

During this affright, Germanicus was
by all men censured, “that he retired not to the higher army, whence he had
been sure of ready obedience, and even of succour against the revolters.
Already he had taken wrong measures more than enough, by discharging some,
rewarding all, and other tender counsels. If he despised his own safety; yet
why expose his infant-son, why his wife big with child, to the fury of
outrageous traitors, wantonly violating all the most sacred rights amongst men?
It became him at least to restore his wife and son safe to Tiberius, and to the state.” He was long unresolved; besides
Agrippina was averse to leave him, and urged that “she was
the grand-daughter of Augustus, and it was below her spirit
to shrink in a time of danger.” But, embracing her and their little son, with
great tenderness and many tears, he prevailed with her to depart. Thus there
marched miserably along a band of helpless women; the wife of a great commander
fled like a fugitive, and upon her bosom bore her infant-son; about her a troop
of other ladies, dragged from their husbands, and drowned in tears, uttering
their heavy lamentations.
Edition: current; Page: [51]Nor weaker than theirs was the grief felt by all who
remained.

These groans and tears, and this spectacle of woe, the
appearances rather of a city stormed and sacked, than of a Roman camp, that of
Germanicus Cæsar, victorious and flourishing, awakened
attention and inquiry in the soldiers: leaving their tents, they cried, “Whence
these doleful wailings? what so lamentable! so many ladies of illustrious
quality, travelling thus forlorn; not a Centurion to attend them; not a soldier
to guard them; their General’s wife amongst them, undistinguished by any mark
of her princely dignity; destitute of her ordinary train; frightened from the
Roman Legions, and repairing, like an exile, for shelter to Treves, there to
commit herself to the faith of foreigners.” Hence shame and commiseration
seized them, and the remembrance of her illustrious family, with that of her
own virtues; the brave Agrippa her father; the mighty
Augustus her grandfather; the amiable Drusus her father-in-law, her self celebrated for a fruitful
bed, and of signal chastity: add the consideration of her little son, born in
the camp, nursed in the arms of the Legions, and by themselves named
Caligula, a military name from the boots which of the same
fashion with their own, in compliment to them, and to win their affections, he
frequently wore. But nothing so effectually subdued them as their own envy
towards the inhabitants of Treves. Hence they
Edition: current; Page: [52]all besought, all adjured, that she would return to
themselves, and with themselves remain. Thus some stopped Agrippina; but the main body returned with their intreaties to
Germanicus; who, as he was yet in the transports of grief
and anger, addressed himself on this wise to the surrounding crowd:

“To me neither is my wife or son dearer than my father
and the commonwealth. But him doubtless his proper majesty will defend; and the
other armies will defend the Roman State. As to my wife and children, whom, for
your glory, I could freely sacrifice; I now remove them from your rage, that by
my blood alone may be expiated whatever further mischief your fury meditates;
and that the murder of the great grandson of Augustus, the
murder of the daughter-in-law of Tiberius, may not be added
to mine, nor to the blackness of your past guilt. For, during these days of
phrensy, what has been too horrid for you to commit? What so sacred that you
have not violated? To this audience what name shall I give? Can I call you
Soldiers? you who have beset with arms the son of your
Emperor, confined him in your trenches, and held him in a siege?
Roman citizens can I call you? you who have trampled upon
the supreme authority of the Roman Senate? Laws religiously observed by common
enemies, you have profaned; violated the sacred privileges and persons of
Ambassadors; broken the laws
Edition: current; Page: [53]of nations. The deified Julius
Cæsar quelled a sedition in his army by a single word; by calling all who
refused to follow him, Townsmen. The deified
Augustus, when, after the battle of Actium, the Legions
lapsed into mutiny, terrified them into submission by the dignity of his
presence, and an awful look. These, it is true, are mighty characters, whom I
dare not emulate: but, as I inherit their blood, should the armies in Syria and
Spain contemn my authority, I should think their behaviour strange and base.
Yet you are the first and the twentieth Legions, the former enrolled by
Tiberius himself, the other his constant companions in so
many battels, his partners in so many victories, and by him enriched with so
many bounties! Is this the worthy return you make your Emperor, and late
commander? And shall I be the author of such tidings to him, in the midst of
congratulations and happy accounts from every province in the Empire, that his
own new levies, as well as his own Veterans who long fought under him, these,
not appeased by their discharge, and neither of them satiated with the money
given them, are both still combined in a furious mutiny? that here, and only
here, the Centurions are butchered, the Tribunes driven away, the Ambassadors
imprisoned; that with blood the camp is stained; that the rivers flow with
blood; and that for me,
Edition: current; Page: [54]his son, I hold a precarious life amongst men thus
raging and implacable?

“Why did you the other day, oh unseasonable friends! snatch away my sword,
when I would have plunged it into my breast? He who offered me his own sword,
acted better, and was more my friend. I would then have fallen happy, as my
death would have hid from mine eyes so many horrible crimes, since committed by
my own army. You too would have chosen another General, who, though he would
have left my death unpunished, yet would have sought vengeance for that of
Varus, and the three Legions. For the Gods are too just to
permit that the Belgians, however generously they offer their service, shall
reap the credit and renown of retrieving the glory of the Roman name, and of
reducing in behalf of Rome the German nations her foes. I therefore here invoke
thy spirit now with the Gods, oh deified Augustus; and thy
image interwoven in the ensigns, and thy memory, oh deceased father, to
vindicate these Legions from this foul infamy. They already feel the remorses
of shame, and a sense of honour. Let them turn the tide of their civil rage to
the destruction of their common enemy. And for you, my fellow soldiers, in whom
I now behold other countenances, and minds happily changed; if you mean to
restore to the Senate its Ambassadors, to your Emperor
Edition: current; Page: [55]your sworn obedience, to me my wife and son; fly the
company of incendiaries, separate the sober from the seditious. This will be a
faithful sign of remorse, this a firm pledge of fidelity.”

These words softened them into supplicants: they
confessed that all his reproaches were true; they besought him to punish the
guilty and malicious, to pardon the weak and misled, and to lead them against
the enemy; to recal his wife, to bring back his son, nor to suffer the
fosterling of the Legions to be given in hostage to the Gauls. Against the
recalling of Agrippina he alledged the advance of winter,
and her approaching delivery; but said, that his son should return, and that to
themselves he left to execute what remained further to be executed. Instantly,
with changed resentments, they ran, and, seizing the most seditious, dragged
them in bonds to Caius Cetronius, commander of the first
Legion, who judged and punished them in this manner. The Legions, with their
swords drawn, surrounded the Tribunal; from thence the prisoner was by a
Tribune exposed to their view, and if they proclaimed him guilty, cast headlong
down, and executed even by his fellow-soldiers, who rejoiced in the execution,
because by it they thought their own guilt to be expiated: nor did
Germanicus restrain them, since on themselves remained the
cruelty and reproach of the slaughter committed without any order of his. The
Veterans followed the same example of vengeance, and
Edition: current; Page: [56]were soon after ordered into Rhetia, in appearance to
defend that province against the invading Suevians; in reality, to remove them
from a camp, still horrible to their sight, as well in the remedy and
punishment, as from the memory of their crime. Germanicus
next passed a scrutiny upon the conduct and characters of the Centurions:
before him they were cited singly; and each gave account of his name, his
company, country, the length of his service, exploits in war, and military
presents, if he had been distinguished with any. If the Tribunes, or his
Legion, bore testimony of his diligence and integrity, he kept his post; upon
concurring complaint of his avarice or cruelty, he was degraded.

Thus were the present commotions appeased; but others as
great still subsisted, from the rage and obstinacy of the fifth and
twenty-first Legions. They were in winter-quarters sixty miles off, in a place
called the Old Camp, and had first began the sedition: nor
was there any wickedness so horrid that they had not perpetrated; nay, at this
time, neither terrified by the punishment, nor reclaimed by the reformation of
their fellow soldiers, they persevered in their fury. Germanicus therefore determined to give them battle, if they
persisted in their revolt, and prepared vessels, arms, and troops, to be sent
down the Rhine.

Before the issue of the sedition in Illyricum was known
at Rome, tidings of the uproar in the German Legions arrived. Hence the city
Edition: current; Page: [57]was filled with much terror, and hence against
Tiberius many complaints, “that while with feigned
consultations and delays he mocked the Senate and People, once the great bodies
of the estate, but now bereft of power and armies, the soldiery were in open
rebellion, one too mighty and stubborn to be quelled by two Princes so young in
years and authority. He ought at first to have gone himself, and awed them with
the majesty of imperial power; as doubtless they would have returned to duty,
upon the sight of their Emperor, a Prince of consummate experience, the
sovereign disposer of rewards and severity. Did Augustus,
even under the pressures of old age and infirmities, take so many journies into
Germany? and should Tiberius, in the vigour of his life,
when the same, or greater occasions called him thither, sit lazily in the
Senate, to watch Senators, and cavil at words? He had fully provided for the
domestic servitude of Rome; he ought next to cure the licentiousness of the
soldiers, to restrain their turbulent spirits, and reconcile them to a life of
peace.”

But all these reasonings and reproaches moved not
Tiberius. He was determined not to depart from the Capital,
the centre of power and affairs, nor expose to chance or peril his person and
empire. In truth, many and contrary difficulties pressed and perplexed him:
“the German army was the stronger; that of Pannonia nearer; the power of both
Edition: current; Page: [58]the Gauls supported the former; the latter was at the
gates of Italy. Now, to which should he repair first? and would not the last
visited be enraged, by being postponed? But by sending one of his sons to each,
the equal treatment of both was maintained; as also the majesty of the supreme
power, which from distance ever derived most reverence. Besides, the young
Princes would be excused, if to their father they referred such demands as were
improper for them to grant; and if they disobeyed Germanicus and Drusus, his own authority
remained to appease or punish them. But if once they had contemned their
Emperor himself, what other resource was behind?” However, as if he had been
upon the point of marching, he chose his attendants, provided his equipage, and
prepared a fleet: but by various delays and pretences, sometimes that of the
winter, sometimes business, he deceived for a time even the wisest men, much
longer the common people, and the provinces for a great while.

Germanicus had already drawn together his army, and was
prepared to take vengeance on the seditious: but judging it proper to allow
space for trial whether they would follow the lare example, and, consulting
their own safety, do justice upon one another; he sent letters to
Cæcina, “that he himself approached, with a powerful force;
and, if they prevented him not, by executing the guilty, he would put all
indifferently to the slaughter.” These
Edition: current; Page: [59]letters Cæcina privately read to
the principal Officers, and such of the camp as the sedition had not tainted;
besought them, “to redeem themselves from death, and all from infamy; urged
that in peace alone reason was heard, and merit distinguished; but in the rage
of war, the blind steel spared the innocent no more than the guilty.” The
Officers having tried those whom they believed for their purpose, and found the
majority still to persevere in their duty, settled, in concurrence with the
General, the time for falling with the sword upon the most notoriously guilty
and turbulent. Upon a particular signal given, they rushed into their tents,
and butchered them; void as they were of all apprehension; nor did any but the
Centurions and executioners know whence the massacre began, or where it would
end.

This had a different face from all the civil slaughters
that ever happened: it was a slaughter not of enemies upon enemies, nor from
different and opposite camps, nor in a day of battle; but of comrades upon
comrades, in the same tents where they eat together by day, where they slept
together by night. From this state of intimacy, they fly into mortal enmity;
friends launched their darts at friends: wounds, outcries, and blood were open
to view; but the cause remained hid: wild chance governed the rest, and several
innocents were slain. For the criminals, when they found against whom all this
fury was bent, had also betaken themselves
Edition: current; Page: [60]to their arms. Neither did Cæcina,
nor any of the Tribunes, intervene to stay the rage: so that the soldiers had
full permission of vengeance, with a licentiousness and satiety of killing.
Germanicus soon after entered the camp now full of blood
and carcasses, and, lamenting with many tears, that “this was not a remedy, but
cruelty and desolation,” commanded the bodies to be burnt. The minds of the
rest, still tempestuous and bloody, were transported with sudden eagerness to
attack the foe; as the best expiation of their tragical fury: nor otherwise,
they thought, could the ghosts of their butchered brethren be appeased, than by
receiving in their own profane breasts a chastisement of honourable wounds.
Germanicus fell in with the ardour of the soldiers, and
laying a bridge upon the Rhine, marched over twelve thousand Legionary
soldiers, twenty-six cohorts of the allies, and eight regiments of horse; men
all untainted in the late sedition.

The Germans rejoiced, not far off, at this vacation of
war, occasioned first by the death of Augustus, and
afterwards by intestine tumults in the camp. But the Romans by a hasty march
passed through the Cæsian woods, and levelling the barrier formerly begun by
Tiberius, pitched their camp upon it. In the front and rear
they were defended by a palisade, on each side by a barricade of the trunks of
trees felled. From thence, beginning to traverse gloomy forests, they stopped
to consult which
Edition: current; Page: [61]of two ways they should chuse, the short and
frequented, or the longest and least known, and therefore unsuspected by the
foe. The longest way was chosen; but in every thing else dispatch was observed:
for, by the scouts, intelligence was brought, that the Germans did, that night,
celebrate a festival, with great mirth and revelling. Hence Cæcina was commanded to advance with the cohorts without their
baggage, and to clear a passage through the forest: at a moderate distance
followed the Legions: the clearness of the night facilitated the march; and
they arrived at the villages of the Marsians, which they presently invested
with guards. The Germans were even yet under the effects of their debauch,
scattered here and there, some in bed, some lying by their tables; no watch
placed, no apprehension of an enemy. So utterly had their false security
banished all order and care; and they were under no dread of war, without
enjoying peace, other than the deceitful and lethargic peace of drunkards.

The Legions were eager for revenge; and Germanicus, to extend their ravage, divided them into four
battalions. The country was wasted by fire and sword fifty miles round; nor sex
nor age found mercy; places sacred and prophane had the equal lot of
destruction, all razed to the ground, and with them the temple of Tanfana, of
all others the most celebrated amongst these nations. Nor did all this
execution cost the soldiers a wound, while they
Edition: current; Page: [62]only slew men half asleep, disarmed, or dispersed.
This slaughter roused the Bructerans, the Tubantes, and the Usipetes; and they
beset the passes of the forest, through which the army was to return; an event
known to Germanicus, and he marched in order of battle: the
auxiliary cohorts and part of the horse led the van, followed close by the
first Legion; the baggage was in the middle; the twenty-first Legion closed the
left wing, and the fifth the right; the twentieth defended the rear; and after
them marched the rest of the allies. But the enemy stirred not, till the body
of the army was entered the wood: they then began lightly to insult the front
and wings; and, at last, with their whole force fell upon the rear. The light
cohorts were already disordered by the close German bands, when Germanicus riding up to the twentieth Legion, and exalting his
voice; “this was the season, he cried, to obliterate the scandal of sedition:
hence they should fall resolutely on, and convert into sudden praise their late
shame and offence.” These words inflamed them: at one charge they broke the
enemy, drove them out of the wood, and slaughtered them in the plain. In the
mean while, the front passed the forest, and fortified the camp. The rest of
the march was uninterrupted, and the soldiers, trusting to the merit of their
late exploits, and forgetting at once past faults and terrors, were placed in
winter-quarters.

Edition: current; Page: [63]

The tydings of these exploits affected Tiberius with gladness and anguish. He rejoiced that the
sedition was suppressed; but, that Germanicus had, by
discharging the Veterans, by shortening the term of service to the rest, and by
largesses to all, gained the hearts of the army, as well as earned high glory
in war; proved to the Emperor matter of torture. To the Senate, however, he
reported the detail of his feats, and upon his valour bestowed copious praises,
but in words too pompous and ornamental to be thought dictated by his heart. It
was with more brevity that he commended Drusus, and his
address in quelling the sedition of Illyricum, but more cordially withal, and
in language altogether sincere; and even to the Pannonian Legions he extended
all the concessions made by Germanicus to his own.

The same year died Julia, for her
lewdness long since banished by her father Augustus into
the isle of Pandateria, and afterwards to the city of Rhegium upon the
streights of Sicily. Whilst Caius and Lucius, her sons by Agrippa, yet lived, she
was given in marriage to Tiberius; and despised him, as a
man beneath her. Nor any motive so cogent as this had Tiberius for his retirement to Rhodes. When he came to the
empire, she was already under the pressures of infamy and exile, and since the
death of Agrippa Posthumus, destitute of all hope and
support. Yet
Edition: current; Page: [64]such multiplied distresses softened not the Emperor,
who, by a long train of miseries, and continued want, caused her finally to
perish; as he supposed that in the distance of her banishment her tragical
death would remain concealed. From the same root was derived his cruelty to
Sempronius Gracchus, the descendent of a family eminently
noble, himself of a lively wit and prevailing eloquence, but viciously applied.
He, while Julia was yet Agrippa’s wife,
had debauched her: neither with Agrippa ended their vicious
league; but after she was given to Tiberius, he still
persisted her adulterer, and towards her husband inspired her with notable
aversion and contumacy: The letters too by her written to her father, full of
asperity against Tiberius, and labouring his ruin, were
thought to have been composed by Gracchus. He was therefore
banished to Cercina, and island in the African sea, where, for fourteen years,
he suffered exile. The soldiers dispatched to the assassination found him upon
a rising by the shore, to himself presaging nothing joyful from their arrival.
Of them he only desired a short respite to send his last will in a letter to
Alliaria his wife, and then extended his neck to the sword
of the assassins; a constancy in death not unworthy the Sempronian name: in his
life he had degenerated. Some authors have related, that these soldiers were
not sent directly from Rome, but by Lucius Asprenas,
Proconsul
Edition: current; Page: [65]of Africa, by the policy and command of Tiberius, who in vain hoped to have cast upon Asprenas the imputation of the murder.

There was likewise this year an admission of new rites,
by the establishment of another College of Priests, one sacred to the deity of
Augustus; as formerly Titus Tatius, to
preserve the religious rites of the Sabines, had founded the fraternity of
Titian Priests. To fill the society, one and twenty the most considerable
Romans were drawn by lot, and to them were added Tiberius,
Drusus, Claudius, and Germanicus. The games in honour
of Augustus, began then first to be embroiled by emulation
among the players, and by the strife of parties in their behalf. Augustus had countenanced these players, and their art, in
complaisance to Mæcenas, who was mad in love with
Bathyllus the comedian; nor to such favourite amusements of
the populace had he any aversion himself; he rather judged it an acceptable
courtesy to mingle with the multitude in these their popular pleasures.
Different was the temper of Tiberius, different his
politics: to severer manners, however, he durst not yet reduce the people, so
many years indulged in licentious gaieties.

In the consulship of Drusus Cæsar
and Caius Norbanus, a triumph was decreed to Germanicus, while the war still subsisted. He was preparing
with all diligence to prosecute it the following summer; but began much sooner
by a sudden irruption early in
Edition: current; Page: [66]the spring into the territories of the Cattians; an
anticipation of the campaign, which proceeded from the hopes given him of
dissension amongst the enemy, caused by the opposite parties of Arminius and Segestes; two men signally
known to the Romans upon different accounts; the last for his firm faith, the
first for faith violated. Arminius was the incendiary of
Germany; but by Segestes had been given repeated warnings
of an intended revolt, particularly during the scstival immediately preceding
the insurrection. He had even advised Varus, “to secure him
and Arminius, and all the other chiefs; for that the
multitude, thus bereft of their leaders, would dare to attempt nothing; and
Varus have time to distinguish crimes and such as committed
none.” But by his own fate, and the sudden violence of Arminius,
Varus fell. Segestes, though by the weight and
unanimity of his nation, he was forced into the war, yet remained at constant
variance with Arminius: a domestic quarrel too heightened
their hate; as Arminius had carried away the daughter of
Segestes, already betrothed to another; and the same
relations which amongst friends prove bonds of tenderness, were fresh
stimulations of wrath to an obnoxious son, and an offended father.

Upon these encouragements, Germanicus committed to the command of Cæcina four Legions, five thousand auxiliaries, and some bands
of Germans, dwellers on this side the
Edition: current; Page: [67]Rhine, drawn suddenly together; he led himself as many
Legions, with double the number of allies, and erecting a fort in mount Taunus,
upon the old foundations of one raised by his father, rushed full march against
the Cattians; having behind him left Lucius Apronius, to
secure the ways from the fury of inundations. For, as the roads were then dry,
and the rivers low, events in that climate exceedingly rare, he had without
check expedited his march, but against his return apprehended the violence of
rains and floods. Upon the Cattians he fell with such surprize, that all the
weak, through sex or age, were instantly taken or slaughtered. Their youth, by
swimming over the Adrana, escaped, and attempted to force the Romans from
building a bridge to follow them, but by dint of arrows and engines were
repulsed; then having in vain tried to gain terms of peace, some submitted to
Germanicus; the rest abandoned their villages and
dwellings, and dispersed themselves in the woods. Mattium, the Capital of the
nation he burnt, ravaged all the open country, and bent his march to the Rhine:
nor durst the enemy harass his rear; an usual practice of theirs, when
sometimes they fly more through craft than affright. The Cheruscans indeed were
addicted to assist the Cattians, but terrified from attempting it by
Cæcina, who moved about with his forces from place to
place; and, by routing the Marsians who had dared to engage him, restrained all
their efforts.

Edition: current; Page: [68]

Soon after arrived deputies from Segestes, praying relief against the combination and violence
of his countrymen, by whom he was held besieged; as more powerful amongst them
than his was the credit of Arminius, since it was he who
had advised the war. This is the genius of Barbarians, to judge that men are to
be trusted in proportion as they are fierce, and in public commotions ever to
prefer the most resolute. To the other deputies Segestes
had added Segimundus his son; but the young man faultered a
while, as his own heart accused him; for that, the year when Germany revolted,
he who had been by the Romans created Priest of the Altar of the Ubians, rent
the sacerdotal Tiara, and fled to the revolters: yet, encouraged by the Roman
clemency, he undertook the execution of his father’s orders, was himself
graciously received, and then conducted with a guard to the frontiers of Gaul.
Germanicus led back his army to the relief of
Segestes, and was rewarded with success. He fought the
besiegers, and rescued him with a great train of his relations and followers;
amongst them too were ladies of illustrious rank, particularly the wife of
Arminius, she who was the daughter of Segestes; a lady more of the spirit of her husband than that of
her father; a spirit so unsubdued, that from her eyes captivity forced not a
tear, nor from her lips a breath in the stile of a supplicant. Not a motion of
her hands, nor a look escaped her; but, fast across her breast she held her
Edition: current; Page: [69]arms, and upon her heavy womb her eyes were immoveably
fixed. There were likewise carried Roman spoils taken at the slaughter of
Varus and his army, and then divided as prey amongst many
of those who were now prisoners. At the same time, appeared Segestes, of superior stature; and, from a confidence in his
good understanding with the Romans, undaunted. In this manner he spoke:

“This is not the first day, that to the Roman people I have approved my
faith and adherence. From the moment I was by the deified Augustus presented with the freedom of the city, I have
continued by your interest to chuse my friends, by your interest to denominate
my enemies; from no hate of mine to my native country (for odious are traitors
even to the party which they embrace) but, because the same measures were
equally conducing to the benefit of the Romans and of the Germans; and I was
for peace rather than war. For this reason I applied to Varus, the then General, with an accusation against
Arminius, who from me had ravished my daughter, and with
you violated the faith of leagues. But growing impatient with the slowness and
inactivity of Varus, and well apprized how little security
was to be hoped from the laws, I pressed him to seize myself, and
Arminius, and his accomplices; witness that fatal night, to
me I wish it had been the last! More to be lamented than defended are the
Edition: current; Page: [70]sad events which followed. I moreover cast
Arminius into irons, and was myself cast into irons by his
faction; and as soon as to you, Cæsar, I could apply, you
see I prefer old engagements to present violence; tranquillity to combustions;
with no view of my own to interest or reward, but to banish from me the
imputation of perfidiousness. For the German nation too, I would thus become a
mediator, if peradventure they will chuse rather to repent than be destroyed:
for my son I intreat you, have mercy upon his youth, pardon his error. That my
daughter is your prisoner by force, I own: in your own breast it wholly lies,
under which character you will treat her, whether as one who has conceived by
Arminius, or as one by me begotten.” The answer of
Germanicus was gracious: he promised indemnity to his
children and kindred, and to himself a safe retreat in one of the old
provinces; then returned with his army, and, by the direction of Tiberius, received the title of Imperator.
The wife of Arminius brought forth a male child, and the
boy was brought up at Ravenna. His unhappy conflicts afterwards with the
contumelious insults of fortune, will be remembered in their place.

The desertion of Segestes being divulged,
with his gracious reception from Germanicus, affected his
countrymen variously, with hope or anguish, as they were prone or averse to the
war. Naturally violent was the spirit of Arminius,Edition: current; Page: [71]and now, by the captivity of his wife, and by the fate
of his child doomed to bondage though yet unborn, enraged even to distraction:
he flew about amongst the Cheruscans, calling them to arms; to arm against
Segestes, to arm against Germanicus:
invectives followed his fury: “A blessed father this Segestes, he cried! a mighty General, this Germanicus! invincible warriors these Romans! so many troops
have made prisoner of a woman. It is not thus that I conquer: Before me three
Legions fell, and three Lieutenant-Generals. Open and honourable is my method
of war, nor waged with bigbellied women, but against men and arms; and treason
is none of my weapons. Still to be seen are the Roman standards in the German
groves, there by me hung up, and devoted to our country Gods. Let
Segestes live a slave in a conquered province; let him
recover to his Son a foreign Priesthood: With the German nations he can never
obliterate his reproach, that through him they have seen, between the Elb and
Rhine, rods and axes, and the Roman Toga. To other Nations, who know not the
Roman domination, executions and tributes are also unknown; evils which we too
have cast off, in spite of that Augustus now dead, and
enrolled with the deities, in spite too of Tiberius his
chosen successor. Let us not, after this, dread a mutinous army, and a boy
without experience, their commander: but,
Edition: current; Page: [72]if you love your country, your kindred, your ancient
liberty and laws, better than tyrants and new colonies, let Arminius rather lead you to liberty and glory, than the wicked
Segestes to the infamy of bondage.”

By these stimulations, not the Cheruscans only were rouzed, but all the
neighbouring nations; and into the confederacy was drawn Inguiomerus, paternal uncle to Arminius, a
man long since in high credit with the Romans. Hence a new source of fear to
Germanicus, who, to avoid the shock of their whole forces,
and to divert the enemy, sent Cæcina with forty Roman
cohorts to the river Amisia, through the territories of the Bructerians.
Pedo the Prefect led the cavalry by the confines of the
Frisians. He himself embarked four Legions on the lake: and upon the bank of
the said river the whole body met, foot, horse, and the fleet. The Chaucians,
upon offering their assistance, were taken into the service; but the
Bructerians, setting fire to their effects and dwellings, were routed by
Stertinius, by Germanicus dispatched
against them with a band lightly armed. As this party were engaged between
slaughter and plunder, he found the Eagle of the nineteenth Legion, lost in the
overthrow of Varus. The army marched next to the furthest
borders of the Bructerians, and the whole country between the rivers Amisia and
Luppia, was laid waste. Not far hence lay the forest of Teutoburgium,
Edition: current; Page: [73]and in it the bones of Varus and
the Legions, by report still unburied. Hence Germanicus
became inspired with a tender passion to pay the last offices to the Legions
and their leader: The like tenderness also affected the whole army. They were
moved with compassion, some for the fate of their friends, others for that of
their relations, here tragically slain: They were struck with the doleful
casualties of war, and the sad lot of humanity. Cæcina was
sent before to examine the gloomy recesses of the forest, to lay bridges over
the pools, and, upon the deceitful marshes, causways. The army entered the
doleful solitude, hideous to sight, hideous to memory. First they saw the camp
of Varus, wide in circumference; and the three distinct
spaces allotted to the different Eagles, shewed the number of the Legions.
Further they beheld the ruinous entrenchment, and the ditch nigh choaked up; in
it the remains of the army were supposed to have made their last effort, and in
it to have found their graves. In the open fields lay their bones all bleached
and bare, some separate, some on heaps, just as they had happened to fall,
flying for their lives, or resisting unto death. Here were scattered the limbs
of horses, there pieces of broken javelins; and the trunks of trees bore the
skulls of men. In the adjacent groves were the savage altars; where the
Barbarians had made a horrible immolation of the Tribunes and principal
Centurions. Those who survived the
Edition: current; Page: [74]slaughter, having escaped from captivity and the
sword, related the sad particulars to the rest: “Here the commanders of the
Legions were slain: There we lost the Eagles: Here Varus
had his first wound; there he gave himself another, and perished by his own
unhappy hand. In that place too stood the tribunal whence Arminius harangued: In this quarter, for the execution of his
captives, he erected so many gibbets; in that such a number of funeral trenches
were digged; and with these circumstances of pride and despight he insulted the
ensigns and Eagles.”

Thus the Roman army buried the bones of the three
Legions, six years after the slaughter; nor could any one distinguish, whether
he gathered the particular remains of a stranger, or those of a kinsman: But
all considered the whole as their friends, the whole as their relations, with
heightened resentments against the foe, at once sad and revengeful. In this
pious office, so acceptable to the dead, Germanicus was a
partner in the woe of the living; and upon the common tomb laid the first sod:
a proceeding not liked by Tiberius; whether it were that
upon every action of Germanicus he put a perverse meaning,
or believed that the affecting spectacle of the unburied slain, would sink the
spirit of the army, and heighten their terror of the enemy; as also that “a
General vested, as Augur, with the intendency of religious rites, became
defiled
Edition: current; Page: [75]by assisting at the solemnities of the dead.”

Arminius retiring into desart and pathless places, was
pursued by Germanicus; who, as soon as he reached him,
commanded the horse to advance, and dislodge the enemy from the post they had
possessed. Arminius, having directed his men to keep close
together, and draw near to the woods, wheeled suddenly about, and to those whom
he had hid in the forest, gave the signal to rush out. The Roman horse, now
engaged by a new army, became disordered, and to their relief some cohorts were
sent, but likewise broken by the press of those that fled; and great was the
consternation so many ways increased. The enemy too were already pushing them
into the morass; a place well known to the pursuers, as to the unapprized
Romans it had proved pernicious, had not Germanicus drawn
out the Legions in order of battle. Hence the enemy became terrified, our men
reassured, and both retired with equal loss and advantage. Germanicus presently after returning with the army to the river
Amisia, reconducted the Legions, as he had brought them, in the fleet. Part of
the horse were ordered to march along the sea-shore to the Rhine.
Cæcina, who led his own men, was warned, that though he was
to return through known roads, yet he should with all speed pass the causway,
called The Long Bridges. It is a narrow track, between
vast marshes, and formerly raised by
Edition: current; Page: [76]Lucius Domitius. The marshes
themselves are of an uncertain soil, here full of mud, there of heavy sticking
clay, or traversed with various currents. Round about are woods which rise
gently from the plain, and were already filled with soldiers by Arminius, who, by shorter ways, and a running march, had
arrived there before our men, who were loaded with arms and baggage.
Cæcina, who was perplexed how at once to repair the causway
decayed by time, and to repulse the foe, resolved at last to encamp in the
place, that whilst some were employed in the work, others might maintain the
fight.

The Barbarians strove violently to break our station,
and to fall upon the entrenchers; harassed our men, assaulted the works,
changed their attacks, and pushed every-where. With the shouts of the
assailants the cries of the workmen were confusedly mixed; and all things
equally combined to distress the Romans; the place deep with ouze sinking under
those who stood, slippery to such as advanced, their armour heavy, the waters
deep, nor in them could they launch their javelins. The Cheruscans, on the
contrary, were inured to encounters in the bogs; their persons tall, their
spears long, such as could wound at a distance. At last the Legions, already
yielding, were by night redeemed from an unequal combat; but night interrupted
not the activity of the Germans, become by success indefatigable. Without
refreshing themselves with sleep, they diverted
Edition: current; Page: [77]all the courses of the springs which rise in the
neighbouring mountains, and turned them into the plains; thus the Roman camp
was flooded, the work, as far as they had carried it, overturned, and the
labour of the poor soldiers renewed and doubled. To Cæcina
this year proved the fortieth of his sustaining as officer or soldier the
functions of arms; a man in all the vicissitudes of war, prosperous or
disastrous, well experienced, and thence undaunted. Weighing therefore with
himself all probable events and expedients, he could devise no other than that
of restraining the enemy to the woods, till he had sent forward the wounded men
and baggage; for from the mountains to the marshes there stretched a plain, fit
only to hold a little army. To this purpose the Legions were thus appointed;
the fifth had the right wing, and the one and twentieth the left; the first led
the van; the twentieth defended the rear.

A restless night it was to both armies, but in different
ways: the Barbarians feasted and caroused; and with songs of triumph, or with
horrid and threatning cries, filled all the plain and echoing woods. Amongst
the Romans were feeble fires, sad silence, or broken words; they leaned
drooping here and there against the pales, or wandered disconsolately about the
tents, like men without sleep, but not quite awake. A frightful dream too
terrified the General; he thought he heard and saw Quinctilius
Varus, rising out of the
Edition: current; Page: [78]marsh, all besmeared with blood, stretching forth his
hand, and calling upon him; but that he rejected the call, and pushed him away.
At break of day, the Legions, posted on the wings, through contumacy or
affright, deserted their stations, and took sudden possession of a field beyond
the bogs; neither did Arminius fall straight upon them,
however open they lay to his assault: but, when he perceived the baggage set
fast in mire and ditches; the soldiers about it disorderly and embarassed; the
ranks and ensigns in confusion; and, as usual in a time of distress, every one
in haste to save himself, but slow to obey his officer; he then commanded his
Germans to break in: “Behold, he vehemently cried, behold again Varus and his Legions, subdued by the same fate!” Thus he
cried, and at the same time, with a select body, broke quite through our
forces; and chiefly against the horse directed his havock: so that the ground
becoming slippery, by their blood and the slime of the marsh, their feet flew
from them, and they cast their riders; then galloping and stumbling amongst the
ranks, they overthrew all they met, and trod to death all they overthrew. The
greatest difficulty was, to maintain the Eagles; a storm of darts made it
impossible to advance them, and the rotten ground impossible to fix them.
Cæcina, while he sustained the fight, had his horse shot,
and having fallen, was nigh taken; but the first Legion saved him. Our relief
came from the greediness of the enemy, who
Edition: current; Page: [79]ceased slaying, to seize the spoil. Hence the Legions
had respite to struggle into the fair field, and firm ground: nor was here an
end to their miseries; a palisade was to be raised, an entrenchment digged;
their instruments too, for throwing up and carrying earth, and their tools for
cutting turf, were almost all lost; no tents for the soldiers; no remedies for
the wounded; and their food all defiled with mire or blood; as they shared it
in sadness amongst them, they lamented that mournful night, they lamented the
approaching day, to so many thousand men the last.

It happened that a horse, which had broke his collar, as
he strayed about, became frightened with noise, and ran over some that were in
his way: this raised such a consternation in the camp, from a persuasion that
the Germans in a body had forced an entrance, that all rushed to the gates,
especially to the postern, as the furthest from the foe, and safer for flight.
Cæcina, having found the vanity of their dread, but unable
to stop them, either by his authority, or by his prayers, or indeed by force,
flung himself, at last, cross the gate. This prevailed; their awe and
tenderness of their General, restrained them from running over his body; and
the Tribunes and Centurions satisfied them the while that it was a false
alarm.

Then, calling them together, and desiring them to hear
him with silence, he minded them of their difficulties, and how to conquer
them: “that for their lives they must be indebted
Edition: current; Page: [80]to their arms, but force was to be tempered with art;
they must therefore keep close within their camp, till the enemy, in hopes of
taking it by storm, advanced; then make a sudden sally on every side; and by
this push they should break through the enemy, and reach the Rhine; but, if
they fled, more forests remained to be traversed, deeper marshes to be passed,
and the cruelty of a pursuing foe to be sustained.” He laid before them the
motives and fruits of victory, public rewards and glory, with every tender
domestic consideration, as well as those of military exploits and praise. Of
their dangers and sufferings he said nothing. He next distributed horses, first
his own, then those of the Tribunes and leaders of the Legions, to the bravest
soldiers impartially; that thus mounted they might begin the charge, followed
by the foot.

Amongst the Germans, there was not less agitation, from
hopes of victory, greediness of spoil, and the opposite counsels of their
leaders. Arminius proposed, “to let the Romans march off,
and to beset them in their march, when engaged in bogs and fastnesses.” The
advice of Inguiomerus was fiercer, and thence more
applauded by the Barbarians: he declared “for forcing the camp; for that the
victory would be quick, there would be more captives, and intire plunder.” As
soon therefore as it was light, they rushed out upon the camp, cast hurdles
into the ditch, attacked and
Edition: current; Page: [81]grappled the palisade: Upon it, few soldiers appeared,
and these seemed frozen with fear: but as the enemy in swarms were climbing the
ramparts, the signal was given to the cohorts; the cornets and trumpets
sounded, and instantly, with shouts and impetuosity, they issued out, and
begirt the assailants; “Here are no thickets, they scornfully cried; no bogs;
but an equal field, and impartial Gods.” The enemy, who imagined few Romans
remaining, fewer arms, and an easy conquest, were struck with the sounding
trumpets, with the glittering armour; and every object of terror appeared
double to them who expected none. They fell like men who, as they are void of
moderation in prosperity, are also destitute of conduct in distress.
Arminius forsook the fight unhurt; Inguiomerus grievously wounded: their men were slaughtered as
long as day and rage lasted. In the evening the Legions returned, in the same
want of provisions, and with more wounds: but in victory they found all things,
health, vigour, and abundance.

In the mean time, a report had flown, that the Roman
forces were routed, and an army of Germans upon full march, to invade Gaul: so
that under the terror of this news there were those, whose cowardice would have
emboldened them to have demolished the bridge upon the Rhine, had not
Agrippina restrained them from that infamous attempt. In
truth, such was the undaunted spirit of the woman, that at this time she
performed all the duties of a
Edition: current; Page: [82]General, relieved the necessitous soldiers, upon the
wounded bestowed medicines, and upon others cloaths. Caius
Plinius, the writer of the German Wars, relates, that she stood at the end
of the bridge, as the Legions returned, and accosted them with thanks and
praises; a behaviour which sunk deep into the spirit of Tiberius; “for that all this officiousness of hers, he thought,
could not be upright; nor that it was against foreigners only she engaged the
army: to the direction of the Generals nothing was now left, when a woman
reviewed the companies, attended the Eagles, and to the men distributed
largesses, as if before she had shewn but small tokens of ambitious designs, in
carrying her child (the son of the General) in a soldier’s coat about the camp,
with the title of Cæsar Caligula. Already in greater credit
with the army was Agrippina than the leaders of the
Legions, in greater than their Generals, and a woman had suppressed sedition,
which the authority of the Emperor was not able to restrain.” These jealousies
were inflamed, and more were added by Sejanus; one who was
well skilled in the temper of Tiberius, and purposely
furnished him with sources of hatred, to lie hid in his heart, and be
discharged with increase hereafter.

Germanicus, in order to lighten the ships in which he had
embarked his men, and fit their burden to the ebbs and shallows, delivered the
second and fourteenth Legions to Publius
Edition: current; Page: [83]Vitellius, to lead them by land. Vitellius, at first, had an easy march on dry ground, or ground
moderately overflowed by the tide; when suddenly the fury of the north wind
swelling the ocean (a constant effect of the equinox) the Legions were
surrounded and tossed with the tide, and the land was all on flood; the sea,
the shore, the fields, had the same tempestuous face; no distinction of depths
from shallows; none of firm from deceitful footing; they were overturned by the
billows; swallowed down by the eddies; and horses, baggage, and drowned men
encountered each other, and floated together. The several companies were mixed
at random by the waves; they waded now breast-high; now up to their chin; and
as the ground failed them, they fell, some never more to rise. Their cries and
mutual encouragements availed them nothing against the prevailing and
inexorable waves; no difference between the coward and the brave, the wise and
the foolish; none between circumspection and chance; but all were equally
involved in the invincible violence of the flood. Vitellius, at length, struggling into an eminence, drew the
Legions thither, where they passed the cold night without fire, and destitute
of every convenience; most of them naked, or lamed; not less miserable than men
inclosed by an enemy: for even to such remained the consolation of an
honourable death; but here was destruction, every way void of glory. The land
returned with the day, and they marched
Edition: current; Page: [84]to the river Vidrus, whither Germanicus had gone with the fleet. There the two Legions were
again embarked, when fame had given them for drowned; nor was their escape
believed, till Germanicus and the army were seen to
return.

Stertinius, who in the mean while had been sent before
to receive Segimerus, the brother of Segestes (a Prince willing to surrender himself) brought him
and his son to the city of the Ubians: both were pardoned; the father freely,
the son with more difficulty; because he was said to have insulted the corps of
Varus. For the rest, Spain, Italy, and both the Gauls
strove with emulation to supply the losses of the army; and offered arms,
horses, money, according as each abounded. Germanicus
applauded their zeal; but accepted only the horses and arms, for the service of
the war: with his own money he relieved the necessities of the soldiers; and to
soften also by his kindness the memory of the late havock, he visited the
wounded, extolled the exploits of particulars, viewed their wounds; with hopes
encouraged some; with a sense of glory animated others; and by affability and
tenderness confirmed them all in devotion to himself, and to his fortune in
war.

The ornaments of triumph were this year decreed to
Aulus Cæcina, Lucius Apronius, and Caius
Silius, for their services under Germanicus. The title
of Father of his Country, so often offered by the People
to
Edition: current; Page: [85]Tiberius, was rejected by him: nor
would he permit swearing upon his acts, though the same was voted by the
Senate. Against it he urged “the instability of all mortal things; and that the
higher he was raised, the more slippery he stood:” but for all this ostentation
of a popular spirit, he acquired not the reputation of possessing it. For he
had revived the law concerning violated majesty; a law which, in the days of
our ancestors, had indeed the same name, but implied different arraignments and
crimes, namely those against the State; as when an army was betrayed abroad,
when seditions were raised at home; in short, when the public was faithlesly
administered, and the majesty of the Roman people was debased. These were
actions, and actions were punished, but words were free. Augustus was the first who brought libels under the penalties
of this wrested law, incensed as he was by the insolence of Cassius Severus, who had in his writings wantonly defamed men
and ladies of illustrious quality. Tiberius too,
afterwards, when Pompeius Macer, the Prætor, consulted him,
“whether process should be granted upon this law?” answered, “that the laws
must be executed.” He also was exasperated by satirical verses written by
unknown authors, and dispersed; exposing his cruelty, his pride, and his mind
unnaturally alienated from his mother.

It will be worth while to relate here the pretended
crimes charged upon Falanius and Rubrius, two Roman Knights of small fortunes;
Edition: current; Page: [86]that hence may be seen from what beginnings, and by
how much dark art of Tiberius, this grievous mischief crept
in; how it was again restrained
a
; how at last it blazed out and consumed all things
b
. To Falanius was objected by his accusers, that
“amongst the adorers of Augustus, who went in fraternities
from house to house, he had admitted one Cassius, a mimic
and prostitute; and having sold his gardens, had likewise with them sold the
statue of Augustus.” The crime imputed to Rubrius was, “that he had sworn falsly by the divinity of
Augustus.” When these accusations were known to
Tiberius, he wrote to the Consuls, “that Heaven was not
therefore decreed to his father, that the worship of him might be a snare to
the citizens of Rome; that Cassius the player was wont to
assist with others of his profession at the interludes consecrated by his
mother to the memory of Augustus: neither did it affect
religion, that his effigies, like other images of the Gods, was comprehended in
the sale of houses and gardens. As to the false swearing by his name, it was to
be deemed the same as if Rubrius had profaned the name of
Jupiter; but to the Gods belonged the avenging of injuries done to the
Gods.”

Not long after, Granius Marcellus,
Prætor of Bithynia, was charged with high
Edition: current; Page: [87]treason by his own Quæstor Cepio
Crispinus; Romanus Hispo, the pleader, supporting the charge. This
Cepio began a course of life, which, through the miseries
of the times and the bold wickedness of men, became afterwards famous. At
first, needy and obscure, but of busy spirit, he made court to the cruelty of
the Prince by occult informations; and presently, as an open accuser, grew
terrible to every distinguished Roman. This procured him credit with one,
hatred from all, and made a precedent, to be followed by others, who from
poverty became rich; from being contemned, dreadful; and in the destruction
which they brought upon others, found at last their own. He accused
Marcellus of “malignant words concerning Tiberius;” an inevitable crime! when the accuser, collecting
all the most detestable parts of the Prince’s character, alledged them as the
expressions of the accused: for, because they were true, they were believed to
have been spoken. To this Hispo added, “that the statue of
Marcellus was by him placed higher than those of the
Cæsars; and that, having cut off the head of Augustus, he had in the room of it set the head of
Tiberius.” This enraged him so, that breaking silence, he
cried, “he would himself, in this cause, give his vote explicitly, and under
the tye of an oath.” By this he meant to force the assent of the rest of the
Senate. There remained even then some faint traces of expiring liberty. Hence
Cneius Piso asked
Edition: current; Page: [88]him; “In what place, Cæsar, will
you chuse to give your opinion? If first, I shall have your example to follow:
if last, I fear I may ignorantly dissent from you.” The words pierced him, but
he bore them, the rather as he was ashamed of his unwary transport; and he
suffered the accused to be acquitted of high treason. To try him for the public
money, was referred to the proper judges.

Nor sufficed it Tiberius to assist
in the deliberations of the Senate only: he likewise sate in the seats of
justice; but always on one side, because he would not dispossess the Prætor of
his chair; and by his presence there, many ordinances were established against
the intrigues and solicitations of the grandees. But while private justice was
thus promoted, public liberty was likewise overthrown. About this time
Pius Aurelius the Senator, whose house, yielding to the
pressure of the public road and aqueducts, had fallen, complained to the
Senate, and prayed relief; a suit opposed by the Prætors who managed the
treasury: but he was relieved by Tiberius, who ordered him
the price of his house; for he was fond of being liberal upon honest occasions;
a virtue which he long retained, even after he had utterly abandoned all other
virtues. Upon Propertius Celer, once Prætor, but now
desiring leave to resign the dignity of Senator, as a burden to his poverty, he
bestowed a thousand great sesterces
*
, upon ample information that
Edition: current; Page: [89]Celer’s necessities were derived
from his father. Others, who attempted the same thing, he ordered to lay their
condition before the Senate; and from an affectation of severity, was thus
austere, even where he acted with uprightness. Hence the rest preferred poverty
and silence to begging and relief.

The same year the Tiber, being swelled with continual rains,
overflowed the level parts of the city; and the common destruction of men and
houses followed the returning flood. Hence Asinius Gallus
moved, “that the Sibylline Books might be consulted.” Tiberius opposed it, equally smothering all inquiries
whatsoever, whether into matters human or divine. To Ateius
Capito, however, and Lucius Arruntius, was committed
the care of restraining the river within its banks. The provinces of Achaia and
Macedon, praying relief from their public burdens, were for the present
discharged of their proconsular government, and subjected to the Emperor’s
Lieutenants. In the entertainment of gladiators at Rome, Drusus presided: it was exhibited in the name of Germanicus, and his own; and at it he manifested too much lust
of blood, even of the blood of slaves: a quality terrible to the populace; and
hence his father was said to have reproved him. His own absence from these
shews, was variously construed; by some ascribed to his impatience of a crowd;
by others to his reserved and solitary genius, and his fear of an unequal
comparison with Augustus,Edition: current; Page: [90]who was wont to be a chearful spectator there. But,
that he thus purposely furnished matter for exposing the cruelty of his son
there, and for raising him popular hate, is what I would not believe; though
this too was asserted.

The dissensions of the theatre, begun last year, broke
out now more violently, with the flaughter of several, not of the people only,
but of the soldiers, with that of a Centurion: nay, a Tribune of a Prætorian
Cohort was wounded, whilst they were securing the magistrates from insults, and
quelling the licentiousness of the rabble. This riot was canvassed in the
Senate, and votes were passing for impowering the Prætors to whip the players.
Haterius Agrippa, Tribune of the People, opposed it; and
was sharply reprimanded by a speech of Asinius Gallus.
Tiberius was silent, and to the Senate allowed these empty apparitions of
liberty. The opposition, however, prevailed, in reverence to the authority of
Augustus, who, upon a certain occasion, had given his
judgment, “that players were exempt from stripes:” nor would Tiberius assume to violate any words of his. To limit the wages
of players, and restrain the licentiousness of their partizans, many decrees
were made: the most remarkable were, “that no Senator should enter the house of
a Pantomime; no Roman Knight attend them abroad; they should shew no where but
in the theatre; and the Prætors should have power to punish with exile any
insolence in the spectators.”

Edition: current; Page: [91]

The Spaniards were, upon their petition, permitted to
build a temple to Augustus, in the colony of Terragon; an
example for all the provinces to follow. In answer to the People, who prayed to
be relieved from the Centesima, a tax of one in the
hundred, established at the end of the civil wars, upon all vendible
commodities; Tiberius by an edict declared, “that upon this
tax depended the fund for maintaining the army: Nor even thus was the
Commonwealth equal to the expence, if the Veterans were dismissed before their
twentieth year.” So that the concessions made them during the late sedition, to
discharge them finally at the end of sixteen years, as they were made through
necessity, were for the future abolished.

It was next proposed to the Senate, by Arruntius and Ateius, whether, in order to
restrain the overflowing of the Tiber, the channels of the several rivers and
lakes by which it was swelled, must not be diverted? Upon this question the
deputies of several cities and colonies were heard. The Florentines besought,
“that the bed of the Clanis might not be turned into their river Arnus; for
that the same would prove their utter ruin.” The like plea was urged by the
Interamnates; “since the most fruitful plains in Italy would be lost, if,
according to the project, the Nar, branched out into rivulets, overflowed
them.” Nor were the Reatinians less earnest against, stopping the outlets of
the lake Velinus into
Edition: current; Page: [92]the Nar; “otherwise, they said, it would break over
its banks, and stagnate all the adjacent country: the direction of nature was
best in all natural things: it was she that had appointed to rivers their
courses and discharges, and set them their limits as well as their sources.
Regard too was to be paid to the religion of our Latin allies, who, esteeming
the rivers of their country sacred, had to them dedicated priests, and altars,
and groves. Nay, the Tiber himself, when bereft of his auxiliary streams, would
flow with diminished grandeur.” Now, whether it were that the prayers of the
colonies, or the difficulty of the work, or the influence of superstition
prevailed; it is certain, the opinion of Piso was followed,
that nothing should be altered.

To Poppeus Sabinus was continued his province of Mœsia;
and to it was added that of Achaia and Macedon. This too was part of the
politics of Tiberius, to prolong governments, and maintain
the same men in the same armies, or civil employments, for the most part, to
the end of their lives; with what view, is not agreed. Some think, “that from
an impatience of returning cares, he was for making, whatever he once liked,
perpetual.” Others, “that from the malignity of his invidious nature, he
regretted the preferring of many.” There are some who believe, “that as he had
a crafty penetrating spirit, so he had an understanding ever irresolute and
perplexed.” So much is certain, that he
Edition: current; Page: [93]never courted any eminent virtue, yet hated vice: from
the best men he dreaded danger to himself; and disgrace to the public from the
worst. This hesitation mastered him so much at last, that he committed foreign
governments to some, whom he meant never to suffer to leave Rome.

Concerning the management of consular elections, either
then, or afterwards, under Tiberius, I can affirm scarce
any thing: such is the variance about it, not only amongst historians, but even
in his own speeches. Sometimes, not naming the candidates, he described them by
their family, by their life and manners, and by the number of their campaigns;
so as it might be apparent whom he meant. Again, avoiding even to describe
them, he exhorted the candidates, not to disturb the election by their
intrigues, and promised himself to take care of their interests. But chiefly,
he used to declare, “that to him none had signified their pretensions, but such
whose names he had delivered to the Consuls; others too were at liberty to
offer the like pretensions, if they trusted to the favour of the Senate, or
their own merits.” Specious words! but intirely empty, or full of fraud; and,
by how much they were covered with the greater guise of liberty, by so much
threatning a more hasty and devouring bondage.

Edition: current; Page: [[94]]

BOOK II.

The SUMMARY.

Commotions in the East. Venones King of the Parthians, his expulsion by
Artabanus, and flight to Armenia,
where he is chosen King, but dethroned by Silanus at the motion of Artabanus. Tiberius designs to send Germanicus to the East, under feigned pretences. The
exploits of the latter in Germany; he builds a fleet, defeats and ravages many
nations there; and routs Arminius in
a great battle. The misfortune of his fleet in a tempest. The remarkable
accusation, trial, and violent death of Libo
Drusus, charged with designs against the state. The poverty of
M. Hortalus, grandson of the famous
orator Hortensius; he applies for
relief to the Senate; Tiberius
opposes him, but complies with the inclination of the Fathers to assist him. A
counterfeit Agrippa Postumus raises
great alarms, but is detected to have been one of his slaves, and put to death.
The triumph of Germanicus over
several nations in Germany. The story and death of King Archelaus: His Kingdom reduced into a Roman Province. The
contumacious behaviour of Cneius Piso
and his wife Plancina to
Germanicus in the East, supposed to
be encouraged by Tiberius and his
mother. Drusus, the Emperor’s son,
sent into Illyricum, and why. A great battle between
Edition: current; Page: [95]Arminius and
Maroboduus, two German Chiefs: The
former conquers. Twelve noble cities in Asia destroyed by an earthquake.
Tacfarinas, first a common soldier,
then a robber, raises a war in Africa. The success of Camillus, the Proconsul, against him.
Germanicus enters Armenia, and
establishes Zeno King there.
Drusus encourages dissensions amongst
the German nations. Maroboduus,
exterminated by Catualda, flies into
Italy, and continues there. Catualda
suffers the like fate. War between two Kings of Thrace composed by seizing the
aggressor. Germanicus visits Egypt,
and views the antiquities there; returns to Asia, is insulted by
Piso, sickens and dies: His amiable
character: Suspicions about the cause of his death. Piso tries to gain the supreme command; is successfully
opposed by the friends of Germanicus,
and retires. Numerous honours decreed at Rome to Germanicus. Laws to restrain the lubricity of women. A new
Vestal Virgin chosen in the place of Occia deceased. Arminius fraudulently slain in Germany. His eminent
character.

DURING the consulship of Sisenna Statilius
Taurus, and Lucius Libo, the Kingdoms and Roman
provinces of the east, were involved in war, begun by the Parthians, who having
sought and accepted a King from Rome, did afterwards, though he was of the race
of the Arsacides, contemn him as a foreigner. This was Venones, who had been given as an hostage to Augustus by Phrahates. For Phrahates, though he had defeated the Roman captains and
armies, yet had courted Augustus with all the reverence of
a dependent, and sent him, to bind their friendship, part of his offspring; not
so much through fear of the Romans, as distrusting the ill faith of the
Parthians.

Edition: current; Page: [96]

After the death of Phrahates, and
the succeeding Kings, ambassadors from the chief men of Parthia arrived at
Rome, to call home Venones his eldest son, in order to end
their intestine slaughters. Tiberius found his own grandeur
and glory in this embassy, and dismissed him with great pomp and presents. The
Barbarians too received him with rapture and exultation; a spirit which
commonly animates the people, where their governors are yet new and untried.
But shame soon succeeded; shame “for the degeneracy of the Parthians, to have
thus sent to another world for a King, one debauched with the manners and
maxims of their enemies. The imperial throne of the Arsacides, they said, was
now deemed and given as a Roman province. Where was the glory of those brave
Parthians who slew Crassus, of those who exterminated
Marc Anthony; if they were reduced so low as to receive for
the Lord of Parthia a slave of Cæsar’s, inured so many
years to foreign bondage?” His own behaviour inflamed their disdain: he
abandoned the customs of his ancestors; was seldom in the chace; took small
delight in horses, travelled luxuriously through their towns in a litter, and
despised the Parthians feasts. They ridiculed his Greek attendants, and the
mean care of sealing up his domestic moveables with his signet. But his
easiness of access, his flowing courtesy (virtues unknown to the Parthians)
were to them so many new
Edition: current; Page: [97]vices; and every part of his manners, the laudable and
the bad, were subject to equal hatred, because foreign from their own.

They therefore sent for Artabanus,
of the blood of the Arsacides, bred amongst the Dahans. In the first engagement
he was routed, but repaired his forces and gained the Kingdom. The vanquished
Venones found a retreat in Armenia, a vacant throne, and a
people wavering between the neighbouring powers of Parthia and of Rome: from us
they were alienated by the fraud and iniquity of Marc
Anthony, who having by shews and professions of friendship, ensnared into
his power Artavasdes, King of the Armenians, loaded him
with chains, and at last put him to death. Artaxias, his
son, for his father’s sake, hating us, defended himself and his Kingdom by the
protection and forces of the Arsacides. Artaxias being
slain by a conspiracy of his kindred, Tigranes was by
Augustus set over the Armenians, and by Tiberius Nero put in possession of the Kingdom. But neither was
the reign of Tigranes lasting, nor that of his children,
however associated together, according to the mode and politics of the East, by
the double ties of marriage and government. Artavasdes was
next established, by the appointment of Augustus, and then
expelled; but at great expence of Roman blood.

Caius Cæsar was then chosen to settle Armenia. By him
Ariobarzanes, by descent a Mede, was, for his graceful
person and eminent
Edition: current; Page: [98]endowments, placed over the Armenians, with their own
consent. Ariobarzanes being killed by an accident, they
would not bear the rule of his children, but tried the government of a woman,
(her name Erato) and quickly expulsed her. After this,
unsettled and wavering, rather exempt from tyranny, than possessed of liberty,
they received the fugitive Venones for their King: but
anon, when he saw himself threatened by Artabanus, small
reliance on the Armenians, and no protection from the Romans without a war with
the Parthians, he accepted the offer of Creticus Silanus,
Governor of Syria, who invited him thither; but when he came, set a guard upon
him; leaving him still the name and luxury of royalty. What attempts
Venones made to escape from this mock-majesty, we will
relate in its place.

The commotions in the East happened not ungratefully to
Tiberius, since thence he had a colour for separating
Germanicus from his old and faithful Legions, for setting
him over strange provinces, and exposing him at once to casual perils and the
efforts of fraud. But he, the more ardent he found the affections of the
soldiers, and the greater the hatred of his uncle, so much the more intent upon
a decisive victory, weighed with himself all the methods of that war, with all
the disasters and successes which had befallen him in it to this his third
year. He remembered, “that the Germans were ever routed in a fair battle, and
upon
Edition: current; Page: [99]equal ground; that woods and boggs, short summers, and
early winters, were their chief resources; that his own men suffered not so
much from their wounds, as from tedious marches, and the loss of their arms.
The Gauls were weary of furnishing horses; long and cumbersom was his train of
baggage, easily surprized, and with difficulty defended. But, if he entered the
country by sea, the invasion would be easy, and the enemy unapprized: besides,
the war would be earlier begun; the Legions and provisions would be carried
together, and the cavalry brought with safety, through the mouths and channels
of the rivers, into the heart of Germany.”

On that method therefore he fixed. Whilst Publius Vitellius and Publius Cantius were
sent to collect the tribute of the Gauls; Silius, Anteius,
and Cæcina, had the direction of building the fleet. A
thousand vessels were thought sufficient, and with dispatch finished: some were
short, sharp at both ends, and wide in the middle, the easier to endure the
agitations of the waves; some had flat bottoms, that without damage they might
bear to run aground: several had helms at each end, that by suddenly turning
the oars only, they might work either way. Many were arched over, for carrying
the engines of war. They were fitted for holding horses and provisions, to fly
with sails, to run with oars; and the spirit and alacrity of the soldiers
heightened the shew and terror of the fleet.
Edition: current; Page: [100]They were to meet at the Isle of Batavia, which was
chosen for its easy landing, for its convenience to receive the forces, and
thence to transport them to the war. For the Rhine flowing in one continual
channel, or only broken by small islands, is, at the extremity of Batavia,
divided, as it were, into two rivers; one running still through Germany, and
retaining the same name and violent current, till it mixes with the ocean; the
other washing the Gallic shore, with a broader and more gentle stream, is by
the inhabitants called by another name, the Wahal, which it soon after changes
for that of the Meuse, by whose immense mouth it is discharged into the same
ocean.

While the fleet sailed, Germanicus
commanded Silius his Lieutenant, with a flying band to
invade the Cattians; and he himself, upon hearing that the fort upon the river
Luppia was besieged, led six Legions thither. But the sudden rains prevented
Silius from doing more than taking some small plunder, with
the wife and daughter of Arpus, Prince of the Cattians; nor
did the besiegers stay to fight Germanicus, but upon the
report of his approach, stole off, and dispersed. As they had, however, thrown
down the common tomb lately raised over the Varian Legions, and the old altar
erected to Drusus; he restored the altar, and performed in
person with the Legions, the funeral ceremony of running courses to the honour
of his father. To replace the tomb was not thought fit; but, all the space
Edition: current; Page: [101]between fort Aliso and the Rhine, he fortified with a
new barrier.

The fleet was now arrived; the provisions were sent
forward; ships were assigned to the Legions and the allies; and he entered the
canal cut by Drusus, and called by his name. Here he
invoked his father, “to be propitious to his son attempting the same
enterprizes; to inspire him with the same counsels, and animate him by his
example.” Hence he sailed successfully through the lakes and the ocean to the
river Amisia. At the town of Amisia the fleet was left, upon the left shore,
and it was a fault that it sailed no higher; for he landed the army on the
right shore; so that in making bridges many days were consumed. The horse and
the Legions passed over without danger, as it was yet ebb; but the returning
tide disordered the rear, especially the Batavians, while they played with the
waves, and shewed their dexterity in swimming; and some were drowned. Whilst
Germanicus was incamping, he was told of the revolt of the
Angrivarians behind him; and thither he dispatched a body of horse and light
foot, under Stertinius, who with fire and slaughter took
vengeance on the perfidious revolters.

Between the Romans and the Cheruscans flowed the river
Visurgis, and on the banks of it stood Arminius, with the
other chiefs. He inquired whether Germanicus was come; and
being answered that he was there, he prayed leave to speak with his brother.
This
Edition: current; Page: [102]brother of his was in the army, his name
Flavius, one remarkable for his lasting faith towards the
Romans, and for the loss of an eye in the war under Tiberius. This request was granted. Flavius
stepped forward, and was saluted by Arminius, who having
removed his own attendants, desired that our archers, ranged upon the opposite
banks, might retire. When they were withdrawn, “How came you (says he to his
brother) by that deformity in your face?” The brother having informed him
where, and in what fight, was next asked, “what reward he had received?”
Flavius answered, “Increase of pay, the chain, the crown,
and other military gifts;” all which Arminius treated with
derision, as the vile wages of servitude.

Here began a warm contest. Flavius
pleaded “the grandeur of the Roman Empire, the power of the Emperor, the Roman
clemency to submitting nations; the heavy yoke of the vanquished; and that
neither the wife, nor son of Arminius, was used like a
captive.” Arminius to all this opposed “the natural rights
of their country, their ancient liberty; the domestic Gods of Germany; he urged
the prayers of their common mother joined to his own, that he would not prefer
the character of a deserter, that of a betrayer of his family, his countrymen
and kindred, to the glory of being their commander.” By degrees they fell into
reproaches; nor would the interposition
Edition: current; Page: [103]of the river have restrained them from blows, had not
Stertinius hasted to lay hold on Flavius, full of rage, and calling for his arms and his horse.
On the opposite side was seen Arminius, swelling with
ferocity and threats, and denouncing battle. For, of what he said, much was
said in Latin; since, as the General of his countrymen, he had served in the
Roman armies.

Next day, the German army stood embatteled beyond the
Visurgis. Germanicus, who thought it became not a General
to endanger the Legions, till, for their passage and security, he had placed
bridges and guards, made the horse ford over. They were led by Stertinius, and by Æmilius
Lieutenant-Colonel of a Legion: and these two officers crossed the river in
distant places, to divide the foe. Cariovalda, Captain of
the Batavians, passed it where most rapid, and was by the Cheruscans, who
feigned flight, drawn into a plain surrounded with woods, whence they rushed
out upon him and assaulted him on every side; overthrew those who resisted, and
pressed vehemently upon those who gave way. The distressed Batavians formed
themselves into a ring, but were again broken, partly by a close assault,
partly by distant showers of darts. Cariovalda, having long
sustained the fury of the enemy, exhorted his men to draw up in platoons, and
break through the prevailing host; he himself forced his way into their center,
and fell with his horse under a shower
Edition: current; Page: [104]of darts, and many of the principal Batavians round
him: the rest were saved by their own bravery, or rescued by the cavalry under
Stertinius and Æmilius.

Germanicus, having passed the Visurgis, learnt from a
deserter, that Arminius had marked out the place of battle;
that more nations had also joined him; that they rendevoused in a wood sacred
to Hercules, and would attempt to storm our camp by night.
The deserter was believed; the enemy’s fires were discerned; and the scouts
having advanced towards them, reported that they had heard the neighing of
horses, and the hollow murmur of a mighty and tumultuous host. In this
important conjuncture, upon the approach of a decisive battle, Germanicus thought it behoved him to learn the inclinations and
spirit of the soldiers, and deliberated with himself how to be informed without
fraud: “for the reports of the Tribunes and Centurions used to be oftener
pleasing than true; his freedmen had still slavish souls, incapable of free
speech; friends were apt to flatter; there was the same uncertainty in an
assembly, where the counsel proposed by a few, was wont to be echoed by all.
The minds of the soldiery were then best known when they were least watched;
when free and over their meals, they frankly disclosed their hopes and
fears.”

In the beginning of night, he went out at the augural
gate, with a single attendant; himself
Edition: current; Page: [105]disguised with the skin of a wild beast hanging over
his shoulders; and chusing secret ways, he escaped the notice of the watch,
entered the lanes of the camp, listened from tent to tent, and enjoyed the
pleasing display of his own popularity and fame; as one was magnifying the
imperial birth of his General; another his graceful person; all, his patience,
condescension, and the equality of his soul in every temper, pleasant or grave.
They confessed the gratitude due to so much merit, and that in battle they
ought to express it, and to sacrifice at the same time to glory and revenge,
these perfidious Germans, who for ever violated stipulations and peace. In the
mean time, one of the enemy who understood Latin, rode up to the palisades,
and, with a loud voice, offered in the name of Arminius, to
every deserter a wife and land, and, as long as the war lasted, an hundred
sesterces a day. This contumely kindled the wrath of the Legions: “Let day
come, they cried, let battle be given. The soldiers would seize and not accept
the lands of the Germans; take and not receive German wives; they, however,
received the offer as an omen of victory, and considered the money and women as
their destined prey.” Near the third watch of the night, they approached, and
insulted the camp, but without striking a blow, when they found the ramparts
covered thick with cohorts, and no advantage given.

Edition: current; Page: [106]

Germanicus had the same night a joyful dream: he thought
he sacrificed, and, in place of his own robe besmeared with the sacred blood,
received one fairer from the hands of his grandmother Augusta; so that elevated by the omen, and by equal
encouragement from the auspices, he called an assembly, where he opened his
deliberations concerning the approaching battle, with all the advantages
contributing to victory; “That to the Roman soldiers, not only plains and
dales, but, with due circumspection, even woods and forests were commodious
places for an engagement. The huge targets, the enormous spears of the
Barbarians, could never be weilded amongst thickets and trunks of trees, like
Roman swords and javelins, and armour adjusted to the shape and size of their
bodies; so that with these tractable arms they might thicken their blows, and
strike with certainty at the naked faces of the enemy; since the Germans were
neither furnished with headpiece nor coat of mail; nor were their bucklers
bound with leather, or fortified with iron, but all bare basket-work, or
painted boards; and though their first ranks were armed with pikes, the rest
had only stakes burnt at the end, or short and contemptible darts. For their
persons, as they were terrible to sight, and violent in the onset, so they were
utterly impatient of wounds, unaffected with their own disgrace, unconcerned
for the honour of their General,
Edition: current; Page: [107]whom they ever deserted, and fled; in distress
cowards, in prosperity despisers of all divine, of all human laws. To conclude,
if the army, after their fatigues at sea, and their tedious marches by land,
longed for an utter end of their labour; by this battle they might gain it. The
Elb was now nearer than the Rhine; and if they would make him a conqueror in
those countries where his father and his uncle had conquered, the war was
concluded.” The ardour of the soldiers followed the speech of the General, and
the signal for the onset was given.

Neither did Arminius, or the other
Chiefs, neglect to declare to their several bands, that “these Romans were the
cowardly fugitives of the Varian army, who, because they could not endure to
fight, had afterwards chosen to rebel: that some with backs deformed by wounds;
some with limbs maimed by tempests; forsaken of hope, and the Gods against
them, were once more presenting their lives to their vengeful foes. Hitherto a
fleet, and unfrequented seas, had been the resources of their cowardice against
an assaulting or a pursuing enemy; but now that they were to engage hand to
hand, vain would be their relief from wind and oars after a defeat. The Germans
needed only remember their rapine, cruelty, and pride; and that to themselves
nothing remained, but either to maintain
Edition: current; Page: [108]their native liberty, or by death to prevent
bondage.”

The enemy thus inflamed, and calling for battle, were
led into a plain called Idistavisus: it lies between the Visurgis and the
hills, and winds unequally along, as it is streightened by the swellings of the
mountains, or enlarged by the circuits of the river. Behind rose a forest of
high trees, thick of branches above, but clear of bushes below. The army of
Barbarians kept the plain, and the entrances of the forest; only the Cheruscans
sat down upon the mountain, in order to pour down from thence upon the Romans,
as soon as they became engaged in the fight. Our army marched thus; the
auxiliary Gauls and Germans in front, after them the foot archers, next four
Legions, then Germanicus with two prætorian Cohorts, and
the choice of the cavalry; then four Legions more, and the light foot with
archers on horse-back, and the other troops of the allies; the men all careful
to march in order of battle, and ready to engage as they marched.

As the impatient bands of Cheruscans were now perceived
descending fiercely from the hills, Germanicus commanded a
body of the best horse to charge them in the flank, and Stertinius with the rest to wheel round to attack them in the
rear, and promised to be ready to assist them in person. During this a joyful
omen appeared; eight eagles were seen to fly toward the wood, and to enter it;
a presage
Edition: current; Page: [109]of victory to the General! “Advance, he cried, follow
the Roman birds; follow the tutelar Deities of the Legions.” Instantly the foot
charged the enemies front, and instantly the detached cavalry attacked their
flank and rear. This double assault had a strange event; the two divisions of
their army fled opposite ways; that in the woods ran to the plain; that in the
plain rushed into the woods. The Cheruscans between both, were driven from the
hills, amongst them Arminius, remarkably brave, who with
his hand, his voice, and distinguished wounds, was still sustaining the fight.
He had assaulted the archers, and would have broken through them; but the
cohorts of the Retians, the Vindelicians, and the Gauls, marched to their
relief: however, by his own spirit, and the vigour of his horse, he escaped;
his face besmeared with his own blood to avoid being known. Some have related,
that the Chaucians, who were amongst the Roman auxiliaries, knew him, and let
him go. The same bravery, or deceit, procured Inguiomerus
his escape: the rest were every where slain; and great numbers attempting to
swim the Visurgis, were destroyed in it, either pursued with darts, or
swallowed by the current, or overwhelmed with the weight of the crowd, or
buried under the falling banks. Some seeking a base refuge on the tops of
trees, and concealment amongst the branches, were shot in sport by the archers,
or squashed
Edition: current; Page: [110]as the trees were felled. This was a mighty victory,
and to us far from bloody!

This slaughter of the foe, from the fifth hour of the
day till night, filled the country for ten miles with carcasses and arms.
Amongst the spoils, chains were found, which, sure of conquering, they had
brought to bind the Roman captives. The soldiers proclaimed TiberiusImperator upon the field of
battle, and, raising a mount, placed upon it as Trophies, the German arms, with
the names of all the vanquished nations, inscribed below.

This sight filled the Germans with more anguish and
rage, than all their wounds, past afflictions, and slaughters. They, who were
just prepared to abandon their dwellings, and flit beyond the Elb, meditate war
and grasp their arms. People, nobles, youth, aged, from all quarters, rush
suddenly upon the Roman army in its march, and disorder it. They next chose
their camp, a streight and moist plain, shut in between a river and a forest;
the forest too surrounded with a deep marsh, except on one side, which was
closed with a barrier raised by the Angrivarians, between them and the
Cheruscans. Here stood their foot: their horse were distributed and concealed
amongst the neighbouring groves, thence, by surprize, to beset the Legions in
the rear, as soon as they had entered the wood.

Nothing of all this was a secret to Germanicus: he knew their counsels, their stations;
Edition: current; Page: [111]what steps they pursued, what measures they
concealed; and to the destruction of the enemy turned their own subtilty and
devices. To Seius Tubero, his Lieutenant, he committed the
horse and the field; the infantry he so disposed, that part might pass the
level approaches into the wood; and the rest force the rampart. This was the
most arduous task, and to himself he reserved it: the rest he left to his
Lieutenants. Those who had the even ground to traverse, broke easily in; but
they who were to assail the rampart, were as grievously battered from above, as
if they had been storming a wall. The General perceived the inequality of this
close attack, and drawing off the Legions a small distance, ordered the
slingers to throw, and the engineers to play, to beat off the enemy.
Immediately showers of darts were poured from the engines, and the defenders of
the barrier, the more bold and exposed they were, with the more wounds they
were beaten down. Germanicus, having taken the rampart,
first forced his way, at the head of the Prætorian Cohorts, into the woods, and
there it was fought foot to foot. Behind, the enemy were begirt with the
morass; the Romans with the mountains, or the river; no room for either to
retreat, no hope but in valour; no safety but in victory.

The Germans had not inferior courage, but they were
exceeded in the fashion of arms and art of fighting. Their mighty multitude,
hampered in narrow places, could not push nor
Edition: current; Page: [112]recover their long spears; nor practise in a close
combat, their usual boundings and velocity of limbs. On the contrary, our
soldiers, with handy swords, and their breasts closely guarded with a buckler,
delved the large bodies and naked faces of the Barbarians, and opened
themselves a way with a havock of the enemy. Besides, the activity of
Arminius now failed him; either spent through his continual
efforts, or slackened by a wound just received. Inguiomerus, was every-where upon the spur, animating the
battle; but fortune, rather than courage, deserted him. Germanicus, to be the easier known, pulled off his helmet, and
exhorted his men, “to prosecute the slaughter; they wanted no captives, he
said; only the cutting off that people root and branch, would put an end to the
war.” It was now late in the day, and he drew off a Legion to make a camp; the
rest glutted themselves till night with the blood of the foe. The horse fought
with doubtful success.

Germanicus, in a speech from the tribunal, praised his
victorious army, and raised a monument of arms, with a proud Inscription,
That the army of Tiberius Cæsar, having vanquished intirely the
nations between the Rhine and the Elb, had consecrated that monument to Mars,
to Jupiter, and to Augustus. Of himself he made no mention, either fearful
of provoking envy, or that he thought it sufficient praise to have deserved it.
He had next commanded
Edition: current; Page: [113]Stertinius, to carry the war
amongst the Angrivarians; but they instantly submitted; and these supplicants,
by yielding without articles, obtained pardon without reserve.

The summer now declining, some of the Legions were sent
back into winter-quarters, by land; more were embarked with Germanicus, upon the river Amisia, to go from thence by the
ocean. The sea, at first, was serene, no sound or agitation, except from the
oars or sails of a thousand ships; but, suddenly a black host of clouds poured
a storm of hail; furious winds roared on every side, and the tempest darkened
the deep, so that all prospect was lost; and it was impossible to steer. The
soldiers too, unaccustomed to the terrors of the sea, in the hurry of fear
disordered the mariners, or interrupted the skilful by unskilful help. At last,
the south-wind mastering all the rest, drove the ocean and the sky. The tempest
derived new force from the windy mountains and swelling rivers of Germany, as
well as from an immense train of clouds; and contracting withal fresh vigour
from the boisterous neighbourhood of the north, it hurled the ships, and tossed
them into the open ocean, or against islands shored with sharp rocks, or
dangerously beset with covered shoals. The ships, by degrees, with great
labour, and the change of the tide, were relieved from the rocks and sands, but
remained at the mercy of the winds; their anchors could not hold them; they
were full of water, nor could all their pumps discharge
Edition: current; Page: [114]it; hence, to lighten and raise the vessels
swallowing at their decks the invading waves, the horses, beasts, baggage, and
even the arms, were cast into the deep.

By how much the German ocean is more outrageous than the
rest of the sea, and the German climate excels in rigour, by so much this ruin
was reckoned to exceed in greatness and novelty. They were engaged in a
tempestuous sea, believed deep without bottom, vast without bounds, or no
shores near but hostile shores. Part of the fleet were swallowed up; many were
driven upon remote islands, void of human culture, where the men perished
through famine, or were kept alive by the carcasses of horses, cast in by the
flood. Only the galley of Germanicus landed upon the coast
of the Chaucians, where, wandring sadly, day and night, upon the rocks and
prominent shore, and incessantly accusing himself as the author of such mighty
destruction, he was hardly restrained by his friends, from casting himself
desperately into the same hostile floods. At last, with the returning tide, and
an assisting gale, the ships began to return, all maimed, almost destitute of
oars, or with coats spread for sails; and, some utterly disabled, were dragged
by those that were less. He repaired them hastily, and dispatched them to
search the islands; and by this care many men were gleaned up, many were by the
Angrivarians, our new subjects, redeemed from their maritime neighbours, and
restored; and some, driven
Edition: current; Page: [115]into Great Britain, were sent back by the little
British Kings. Those who had come from afar, recounted wonders at their return,
“the impetuosity of whirlwinds; wonderful birds; sea-monsters of ambiguous
forms between man and beast;” strange fights; or the effects of imagination and
fear.

The noise of this wreck, as it animated the Germans with
hopes of renewing the war, awakened Germanicus also to
restrain them. He commanded Caius Silius, with thirty
thousand foot, and three thousand horse, to march against the Cattians; he
himself, with a greater force, invaded the Marsians, where he learnt from
Malovendus, their General, lately taken into our
subjection, that the Eagle of one of Varus’s Legions, was
hid under ground in a neighbouring grove, and kept by a slender guard.
Instantly two parties were dispatched; one, to face the enemy, and provoke them
from their post; the other to beset their rear, and dig up the Eagle; and
success attended both. Hence Germanicus advanced with
greater alacrity, laid waste the country, and smote the foe, either not daring
to engage, or, where-ever they engaged, suddenly defeated; nor, as we learnt
from the prisoners, were they ever seized with greater dismay. “The Romans,
they cried, are invincible; no calamities can subdue them. They have wrecked
their fleet; their arms are lost, our shores are covered with the bodies of
their horses and men: Yet they attack us with their usual
Edition: current; Page: [116]ferocity, with the same firmness, and with numbers,
as it were, increased.

The army was from thence led back into winter-quarters,
full of joy to have balanced, by this prosperous expedition, their late
misfortune at sea; and by the bounty of Germanicus, their
joy was heightened, since to each sufferer he caused to be paid as much as each
declared he had lost; neither was it doubted but the enemy were humbled, and
concerting measures for obtaining peace, and that the next summer would
terminate the war. But Tiberius, by frequent letters urged
him “to come home, there to celebrate the triumph already decreed him; he had
already tried enough of events, and tempted abundant hazards. He had indeed
fought great and successful battles; but he must likewise remember his losses
and calamities, which, however owing to wind and waves, and no fault of the
General, were yet great and grievous. He himself had been sent nine times into
Germany by Augustus, and effected much more by policy than
arms: it was thus he had brought the Sigambrians into subjection, thus drawn
the Suevians, and King Maroboduus, under the bonds of
peace. The Cheruscans too, and the other hostile nations, now the Roman
vengeance was satiated, might be left to pursue their own national feuds.”
Germanicus besought one year to accomplish his conquest;
but Tiberius assailed his modesty with a new
Edition: current; Page: [117]bait, and fresh importunity, by offering him another
Consulship, for the administration of which he was to attend in person at Rome:
he added, “that if the war was still to be prosecuted, Germanicus should leave a field of glory to his brother
Drusus, to whom there now remained no other; since the
Empire had no-where a war to maintain but in Germany, and thence only
Drusus could acquire the title of Imperator, and merit the
triumphal laurel.” Germanicus persisted no longer, though
he knew that this was all feigned and hollow, and saw himself invidiously torn
away from a harvest of ripe glory.

About this time, Libo Drusus, of the
Scribonian family, was arraigned for meditating attempts against the State.
And, because then first were devised those pestilent arts and impeachments,
which for so many years devoured the Commonwealth, I will lay open with the
more exactness the beginning, progress and issue of this affair. Firmius Catus the Senator, a close confident of Libo, traiterously misled that youth, unwary as he was, and
easy to be ensnared, with specious delusions; engaged him to try the
predictions of the Chaldeans, the superstitious rites of Magicians, and the
interpreters of dreams; and to flatter his hopes and ambition, was incessantly
magnifying the nobility of his race; for that Pompey was
“his great grand-father, Scribonia, once the wife of
Augustus, his aunt, the Cæsars his kinsmen; and his house
full of images;”
Edition: current; Page: [118]tempted him to luxury and borrowing; was associated
with him in his debauches, surety for his debts, and all to accumulate more
matter for crimes and evidence.

When he found himself furnished with store of witnesses, and amongst them
some of Libo’s slaves, who were also privy to the obnoxious
conduct of their master, he sought admittance to the Emperor; having first by
Flaccus Vescularius, a Roman Knight, intimate with
Tiberius, represented to him Libo as a
criminal, as also a detail of his crimes. Tiberius slighted
not his information, but denied him access, “for that the communication, he
said, might be still managed by the same Flaccus.” In the
mean time, he preferred Libo to the Prætorship, entertained
him at his table, shewed no strangeness in his countenance, no resentment in
his words (so deeply had he smothered his vengeance); and, when he might have
restrained all the dangerous speeches and practices of Libo, he chose rather to permit them, in order to know and
punish them: nor were they checked or made public, till one Junius, who was dealt with to call up by charms the infernal
shades, discovered this to Fulcinius Trio, a distinguished
accuser, one greedy of renown in wickedness. Instantly Trio
marked out the doom of the accused, hastened to the Consuls, and of them
demanded that the Senate might meet and adjudge him. Thus the fathers were
forthwith summoned, and even apprized, that “upon an affair of
Edition: current; Page: [119]mighty moment and horrible tendency to the State,
they were to deliberate.”

Libo, the while, having changed his dress, went covered
with mourning, from house to house, accompanied by Ladies of the noblest rank,
and implored the mediation of his kindred, that they would protect him against
impending ruin, and speak in his behalf. But every one of them declined his
suit, each upon a different pretence; yet, in reality, all from the same fear.
The day the Senate sat for his trial, vanquished with dread, and sinking under
sickness; or, as some relate, feigning it, he was borne in a litter to the
court, and, leaning upon his brother, with supplicant hands and words, he
accosted and strove to soften Tiberius, who received him
with a countenance perfectly unmoved. It was the Emperor who next recited the
charge against him, and the authors of the charge; but with such wary
moderation, that he might seem neither to soften nor sharpen his crimes.

To Trio and Catus, two other
accusers, Fonteius Agrippa and Caius
Vibius, joined themselves, and strove who should have the right to implead
the accused. At last, when neither would yield, and Libo
was come unprovided with a pleader, Vibius undertook to
maintain distinctly the several heads of the charge, and produced articles so
extravagant, that amongst the rest it was one, how Libo had
consulted the fortune-tellers, “whether he should ever be master of opulence
sufficient
Edition: current; Page: [120]to cover the great Appian road with money as far as
Brundusium.” There were others of the same kind, foolish, chimerical, or (taken
in tenderer sense) deserving pity. But there was one article formed upon a
paper, containing the names of the Cæsars as well as those of some Senators,
with mysterious characters, and malignant notes joined to them. This the
accuset urged against Libo, as written in his own hand.
Libo denied it, and hence it was proposed to examine by
torture his conscious slaves. But, seeing it was forbid by an ancient law of
the Senate, to put servants to the question, in a trial touching the life of
their master, the crafty Tiberius invented a new law, to
elude the old, and ordered these slaves to be sold to the public steward, that,
by this expedient, evidence against Libo might be racked
from his servants, without violating the law. In this state of despondency,
Libo requested respite till the next day; and then
returning to his own house, transmitted, by his kinsman Publius
Quirinus, his last prayers to the Emperor, who replied, that “he must make
his request to the Senate.”

His house was in the mean time encompassed with a band
of soldiers, who with studied noise and terror were filling all the court, on
purpose to create certain attention and alarm, just when Libo sat down to the banquet, which, as the ultimate pleasure
of his life, he had prepared. But, then feeling agonies instead of pleasure, he
called for a minister of death, successively
Edition: current; Page: [121]grasped the hands of his slaves, and into them, by
turns, strove to squeeze a sword. But they, as they trembled and shunned the
sad task, through the hurry of fear and flight overturning the lamp that
illuminated the table; in this ominous and tragical darkness, he gave himself
two deadly stabs in the bowels. As he groaned and fell, his freedmen sprang in,
and the soldiers, seeing the slaughter perpetrated, retired. The charge against
him was however pushed in the Senate, with the same unrelenting eagerness. Yet
Tiberius vowed, “that he would have interceded for his
life, notwithstanding his treason, if he had not thus hastily died by his own
hands.”

His estate was divided amongst his accusers; and those
of them who bore the rank of Senators, were, without the regular way of
election, preferred to Prætorships. Then Cotta Messalinus
proposed, that “the image of Libo might not accompany the
funerals of his posterity;” Cneius Lentulus, that “none of
the Scribonii should henceforth assume the sirname of
Drusus;” and at the motion of Pomponius
Flaccus, days of thanksgiving were appointed. That “gifts should be
presented to Jupiter, to Mars, and to
the Goddess Concord; and that the thirteenth of September,
the day on which Libo slew himself, should be an
established festival,” were the votes of Lucius Publius, of
Asinius Gallus, of Papius Mutilius, and
of Lucius Apronius. I have related the votes and sycophancy
Edition: current; Page: [122]of these men, to shew that adulation is an inveterate
evil in the state. Decrees of the Senate were likewise made for driving
Astrologers and Magicians out of Italy; and one of the herd, Lucius Pituanius, was precipitated from the Tarpeian Rock.
Publius Marcius, another, was by judgment of the Consuls,
at the sound of trumpet, executed without the Esquiline Gate, according to the
ancient form.

Next time the Senate sat, long discourses against the
luxury of the city were made by Quintus Haterius, a
Consular, and by Octavius Fronto, formerly Prætor, and a
law was passed “against using table-plate of solid gold; and against men’s
debasing themselves with gorgeous and effeminate silks.” Fronto went farther, and desired that “the quantities of
silver-plate, the expence of furniture, and the number of domestics, might be
limited.” For it was yet common for Senators to depart from the present debate,
and offer, as their advice, whatever they judged conducing to the interest of
the Commonweal. Against him it was argued by Asinius
Gallus, “that with the growth of the Empire, private riches were likewise
grown, and it was no new thing for citizens to live according to their
conditions, but, indeed, agreeable to the most primitive usage. The ancient
Fabricii, and the latter Scipios,
having different wealth, lived differently; but all suitably to the several
stages of the Commonwealth.
Edition: current; Page: [123]Public poverty was accompanied with domestic; but,
when the State rose to such a height of magnificence, the magnificence of
particulars rose too. As to plate, and train, and expence, there was no
standard of excess or frugality, but from the fortunes of men. The law, indeed,
had made a distinction between the fortunes of Senators and of Knights; not for
any natural difference between them; but that they who excelled in place, rank,
and civil pre-eminence, might excel too in other particulars, such as conduced
to the health of the body, or to the peace and solacement of the soul; unless
it were expected, that the most illustrious citizens should sustain the
sharpest cares, and undergo the heaviest fatigues and dangers, but continue
destitute of every alleviation of fatigue, and danger, and care.”
Gallus easily prevailed, whilst, under worthy names, he
avowed and supported popular vices in an assembly engaged in them.
Tiberius too had said, “that it was not a season for
reformation; or, if there were any corruption of manners, there would not be
wanting one to correct them.”

During these transactions, Lucius
Piso, after he had declaimed bitterly, in the Senate, against “the cabals
and intrigues of the Forum, the corruption of the tribunals, and the inhumanity
of the pleaders breathing continual terror and impeachments,” declared, “he
would intirely relinquish Rome, and retire
Edition: current; Page: [124]into a quiet corner of the country, far distant and
obscure.” With these words he left the Senate. Tiberius was
provoked; and yet not only soothed him with gentle words, but likewise obliged
Piso’s relations, by their authority or entreaties to
retain him. The same Piso gave soon after an equal instance
of the indignation of a free spirit, by prosecuteing a suit against
Urgulania; a Lady whom the partial friendship of
Livia had set at defiance with the laws. Urgulania being carried, for protection, to the palace,
despised the efforts of Piso; so that neither did she
submit, nor would he desist, notwithstanding the complaints and resentments of
Livia, that, in the prosecution, “violence and indignity
were done to her own person.” Tiberius promised to attend
the trial, and assist Urgulania; but only promised in
civility to his mother, for so far he thought it became him; and thus left the
palace, ordering his guards to follow at a distance. People, the while, crowded
about him, and he walked with a slow and composed air. As he lingered, and
prolonged the time and way with various discourse, the trial went on;
Piso would not be mollified by the importunity of his
friends; and hence at last the Empress ordered the payment of the money claimed
by him. This was the issue of the affair. By it Piso lost
no renown; and it signally increased the credit of Tiberius. The power however of Urgulania
was so exorbitant to the State, that she disdained to appear
Edition: current; Page: [125]a witness in a certain cause before the Senate; and,
when it had been always usual, even for the Vestal virgins to attend the Forum,
and Courts of Justice, as oft as their evidence was required; a Prætor was sent
to examine Urgulania at her own house.

The procrastination which happened this year in the
public affairs, I should not mention, but that the different opinions of
Cneius Piso and Asinius Gallus about
it, are worth knowing. Their dispute was occasioned by a declaration of
Tiberius; “that he was about to be absent.” And it was the
motion of Piso, “that for that very reason, the prosecution
of public business was the rather to be continued; since, as in the Prince’s
absence, the Senate and Equestrian order might administer their several parts,
the same would become the dignity of the Commonwealth.” This was a declaration
for liberty, and in it Piso had prevented Gallus, who now, in opposition, said, “that nothing
sufficiently illustrious, nor suiting the dignity of the Roman people, could be
transacted but under the immediate eye of the Emperor, and therefore the
conflux of suitors, and the affairs from Italy, and the provinces, must by all
means be reserved for his presence.” Tiberius heard, and
was silent, while the debate was managed on both sides with mighty vehemence;
but the adjournment was carried.

A debate too arose between Gallus
and the Emperor; for, Gallus moved, “that the
Edition: current; Page: [126]Magistrates should be henceforth elected but once
every five years; that the legates of the Legions, who had never exercised the
Prætorships, should be appointed Prætors; and that the Prince should nominate
twelve candidates every year.” It was not doubted but this motion had a deeper
aim, and that by it the secret springs and reserves of imperial power were
invaded. But Tiberius, as if he rather apprehended the
augmentation of his authority, argued, “that it was a heavy task upon his
moderation, to chuse so many Magistrates, and to postpone so many candidates;
that disgusts from disappointments were hardly avoided in yearly elections;
though, for their solacement, fresh hopes remained of approaching success in
the next; now how great must be the hatred, how lasting the resentment of such
whose pretensions were to be rejected beyond five years? and whence could it be
foreseen, that, in so long a tract of time, the same men would continue to have
the same dispositions, the same alliances and fortunes? even an annual
designation to power, made men imperious; how imperious would it make them, if
they bore the honour for five years! besides, it would multiply every single
Magistrate into five, and utterly subvert the laws which had prescribed a
proper space for exercising the diligence of the candidates, and for
solliciting as well as enjoying preferments.”

Edition: current; Page: [127]

By this speech, in appearance popular, he still retained the spirit and
force of the sovereignty. He likewise sustained by gratuities the dignity of
some necessitous Senators. Hence it was the more wondered, that he received
with haughtiness and repulse the petition of Marcus
Hortalus, a young man of signal quality, and manifestly poor. He was the
grandson of Hortensius the Orator; and had been encouraged
by the deified Augustus with a bounty of a thousand great
sesterces
a
, to marry for posterity, purely to prevent the extinction of a family
so eminently illustrious. The Senate were sitting in the palace, and
Hortalus having set his four children before the door,
fixed his eyes, now upon the statue of Hortensius, placed
amongst the Orators; then upon that of Augustus; and,
instead of speaking to the question then debated, began on this wise:
“Conscript fathers, you see there the number and infancy of my children; not
mine by my own choice, but in compliance with the advice of the Prince. Such
too was the splendor of my ancestors, that it merited to be perpetuated in
their race. But, for my own particular, who, marred by the revolution of the
times, could not raise wealth, nor engage popular favour, nor cultivate the
hereditary fortune of our house, the fortune of Eloquence; I deemed it
sufficient, if, in my narrow circumstances,
Edition: current; Page: [128]I lived no disgrace to myself, no burden to others.
Commanded by the Emperor, I took a wife: behold the offspring of so many
Consuls; behold the descendants of so many Dictators! nor is this remembrance
invidiously made, but made to move mercy. In the progress of your reign,
Cæsar, these children may arrive at the honours in your
gift. Defend them in the mean time from want: they are the great grandsons of
Hortensius; they are the foster sons of Augustus.”

The inclination of the Senate was favourable, an
incitement to Tiberius the more eagerly to thwart
Hortalus. These were in effect his words: “If all that are
poor recur hither for a provision of money to their children, the public will
certainly fail, yet particulars never be satiated. Our ancestors, when they
permitted a departure from the question, to propose somewhat more important to
the state, did not therefore permit it, that we might here transact domestic
matters, and augment our private rents; an employment invidious both in the
Senate and the Prince; since, whether they grant or deny the petitioned
bounties, either the people or the petitioners will ever be offended. But
these, in truth, are not petitions; they are demands made against order, and
made by surprize. While you are assembled upon other affairs, he stands up, and
urges your pity, by the number and infancy
Edition: current; Page: [129]of his children; with the same violence, he changes
the attack to me, and, as it were, bursts open the exchequer. But, if by
popular bounties we exhaust it, by rapine and oppression we must supply it. The
deified Augustus gave you money, Hortalus; but without sollicitation he gave it, and on no
condition that it should always be given: otherwise diligence will languish;
sloth will prevail; and men having no hopes in resources of their own; no
anxiety for themselves, but all securely relying on foreign relief, will become
private sluggards and public burdens.” These and the like reasonings of
Tiberius were differently received; with approbation by
those whose way it is to extol, without distinction, all the doings of Princes,
worthy and unworthy; by most, however, with silence, or low and discontented
murmurs. Tiberius perceived it, and having paused a little,
said, “his answer was particularly to Hortalus; but, if the
Senate thought fit, he would give his sons two hundred great sesterces
b
each.” For this all the Senators presented their thanks; only
Hortalus said nothing; perhaps through present awe, or
perhaps possessed, even in poverty, with the grandeur of his ancient nobility.
Nor did Tiberius ever shew farther pity, though the house
of Hortensius was fallen into shameful distress.

Edition: current; Page: [130]

The same year, the boldness of a single bondman had, but
for early prevention, torn the state with great combustions and civil arms. A
slave of Posthumus Agrippa, his name Clemens, having learnt the death of Augustus, conceived a design to sail to Planasia, and there
releasing Agrippa by art or force, to carry him to the
armies in Germany. No slavish design! but, the slowness of the laden vessel
defeated his bold purpose; for Agrippa was already
murdered. Hence he conceived views still higher and more daring. He stole the
funeral ashes, and sailing to Cosa, a promontory of Etruria, hid himself in
desart places, till his hair and beard were grown long; for, in age and person,
he was not unlike his master. Then, a report spread by trusty emissaries and
the associates of the plot, “that Agrippa lived,” began to
thicken. It first crept abroad in dark whispers, as usual in matters of
dangerous tendency; but becoming soon a prevailing rumour, it filled the greedy
ears of the credulous, or was encouraged by turbulent minds, such as are ever
fond of public agitations and changes. He himself, when he entered the
neighbouring towns, did it in the gloom of the day; never to be seen publicly,
nor long in the same place. But, as truth is strengthened by observation and
time; lies by haste and uncertainty, he out-ran fame. Here he staid not to be
known; there he arrived before his name arrived.

Edition: current; Page: [131]

It flew through Italy, in the mean time, “that, by the
bounty of the Gods, Agrippa was preserved.” It was even
believed at Rome. His supposed arrival at Ostia, was celebrated by great
multitudes abroad; and in the city by clandestine cabals; whilst divided cares
distracted Tiberius, whether he should suppress his slave
by the power of the sword, or suffer the empty credulity of the public to
vanish with time. Now he thought that nothing was to be slighted; now that
every thing was not to be dreaded, wavering between shame and fear. At last he
committed the affair to Sallustius Crispus. Crispus chose
two of his creatures, (some say two soldiers) and directed them to go directly
to him, to feign themselves his adherents, men who were conscious that he was
the genuine Agrippa, to present him with money, and to
promise him, without reserve, their faith and fortunes. They instantly executed
these orders, and afterwards spying him one night without guards, and being
themselves furnished with a proper band of men, they carried him to the palace,
gagged and bound. To Tiberius, when he asked him, “how he
was become Agrippa?” he is said to have answered, “Just as
you became Cæsar.” But, to discover his accomplices, he
could never be constrained. Neither dared Tiberius venture
to execute him publicly, but ordered him to be dispatched in a secret part of
the palace, and his body to be carried privately away; and, though many
Edition: current; Page: [132]of the Prince’s houshold, many Knights and Senators,
were said to have supported him with money, and assisted him with their
Counsels; no enquiry followed.

At the end of the year, a triumphal arch was raised near
the Temple of Saturn, as a monument for the recovery of the Varian Eagles,
under the conduct of Germanicus, and the auspices of
Tiberius. A Temple was dedicated to happy Fortune near the
Tiber, in the Gardens bequeathed to the Roman people by Cæsar the Dictator. A Chapel was consecrated to the Julian
family, and statues to the deified Augustus, in the suburbs
called Bovillæ. In the Consulship of Caius Celius and
Lucius Pomponius, the six and twentieth of May,
Germanicus Cæsar triumphed over the Cheruscans, the
Cattians, the Angrivarians, and the other nations as far as the Elb. In the
triumph were carried all the spoils and captives, with the representations of
mountains, of rivers, and of battles; so that his conquests, because he was
restrained from compleating them, were taken for compleat. His own graceful
person, and his chariot filled with his five children, heightened the shew and
the delight of the beholders. Yet they were checked with secret fears; as they
remembered, “that popular favour had proved malignant to his father
Drusus; that his uncle Marcellus was
snatched, in his youth, from the burning affections of the populace, and, that
ever
Edition: current; Page: [133]short-lived and unfortunate were the favourites of
the Roman people.”

Tiberius distributed to the people in the name of
Germanicus, three hundred sesterces
c
a man, and named himself his Collegue in the Consulship. Nor even thus
did he gain the opinion of tenderness and sincerity. In effect, on pretence of
investing the young Prince with fresh preferment and honours, he resolved to
alienate him from Rome; and, to accomplish it, craftily framed an occasion, or
snatched such a one as chance presented. Archelaus had
enjoyed the Kingdom of Cappadocia now fifty years, a Prince under the deep
displeasure of Tiberius, because in his retirement at
Rhodes, the King had paid him no sort of court nor distinction; an omission
which proceeded from no disdain, but from the warnings given him by the
confidents of Augustus; for that the young Caius Cæsar, the presumptive heir to the Sovereignty, then
lived, and was sent to compose and administer the affairs of the East; hence
the friendship of Tiberius was reckoned then dangerous. But
when, by the utter fall of the family of the Cæsars, he had
gained the Empire, he enticed Archelaus to Rome, by means
of letters from his mother, who, without dissembling her son’s resentment,
offered the King his mercy, provided he came and in person implored it. He, who
was either ignorant of the
Edition: current; Page: [134]snare, or dreaded violence if he had appeared to
perceive it, hastened to the City; where he was received by Tiberius with great sternness and wrath, and soon after accused
as a criminal in the Senate. The crimes alledged against him were mere
fictions; yet, as equal treatment is unusual to Kings, and, to be treated like
malefactors, intolerable; Archelaus, who was broken with
grief as well as age, by choice or fate ended his life. His Kingdom was reduced
into a province, and by its revenues Tiberius declared, the
tax of the hundredth penny would be abated, and reduced it for the future to
the two hundredth. At the same time died Antiochus, King of
Comagena, as also Philopater, King of Cilicia; and great
combustions shook these nations; whilst many of the people desired the Roman
Government, and many were addicted to domestic Monarchy. The provinces too of
Syria and Judea, as they were oppressed with impositions, prayed an abatement
of tribute.

These affairs, and such as I have above related
concerning Armenia, Tiberius represented to the Fathers,
and, “that the commotions of the East could only be settled by the wisdom and
abilities of Germanicus. For himself; his age now declined,
and that of Drusus was not yet sufficiently ripe.” The
provinces beyond the sea were thence decreed to Germanicus,
with authority superior to all those who obtained provinces by lot, or the
nomination of the Prince. But,
Edition: current; Page: [135]Tiberius had already taken care
to remove from the government of Syria Creticus Silanus,
one united to Germanicus in domestic alliance, by having
betrothed his daughter to Nero, the eldest son of
Germanicus. In his room he had preferred Cneius Piso, a man of violent temper, incapable of subjection,
and heir to all the ferocity and haughtiness of his father Piso; the same who, in the civil war, assisted the reviving
party against Cæsar in Africa, with vehement efforts, then
followed Brutus and Cassius, but had at
last leave to come home; yet disdained to sue for any public offices; nay, was
even courted by Augustus to accept the Consulship. His son,
besides his hereditary pride and impetuosity, was elevated with the nobility
and wealth of Plancina his wife. Scarce yielded he to
Tiberius, and, as men far beneath him, despised the sons of
Tiberius. Neither did he doubt but he was set over Syria on
purpose to defeat all the views of Germanicus. Some even
believed, that he had to this purpose secret orders from Tiberius; as it was certain, that Livia
directed Plancina to exert the spirit of the sex, and by
constant emulation and indignities, to persecute Agrippina.
For, the whole court was rent, and their affections secretly divided between
Drusus and Germanicus. Tiberius was
partial to Drusus, as his own son by generation; others
loved Germanicus; the more for the aversion of his uncle,
and for being by his mother, of more
Edition: current; Page: [136]illustrious descent; as Marc
Anthony was his grandfather, and Augustus his great
uncle. On the other side, Pomponius Atticus, a Roman
Knight, by being the great grandfather of Drusus, seemed
thence to have derived a stain upon the images of the Claudian house. Besides,
Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, did
in the fruitfulness of her body, and the reputation of her virtue, far excel
Livia the wife of Drusus. Yet the two
brothers lived in amiable dearness and concord, no wife shaken or estranged by
the reigning contention amongst their separate friends and adherents.

Drusus was soon after sent into Illyricum in order to
inure him to war, and gain him the affections of the army. Besides,
Tiberius thought that the youth, who lived wantoning in the
luxuries of Rome, would be reformed in the camp, and that his own security
would be enlarged when both his sons were at the head of the Legions. But, the
pretence for sending him was the protection of the Suevians, who were then
imploring assistance against the power of the Cheruscans. For, these nations,
who since the departure of the Romans, saw themselves no longer threatened with
terrors from abroad, and were then particularly engaged in a national
competition for glory, had relapsed, as usual, into their old intestine feuds,
and turned their arms upon each other. The two people were equally powerful,
their two leaders equally brave, but differently esteemed, as the title of
King, had
Edition: current; Page: [137]drawn upon Maroboduus the hate
and aversion of his countrymen; whilst Arminius, as a
champion warring for the defence of liberty, was the universal object of
popular affection.

Hence not only the Cheruscans and their confederates,
they who had been the ancient soldiery of Arminius, took
arms; but to him too revolted the Semnones and Langobards, both Suevian
nations, and even subjects of Maroboduus; and by their
accession he would have exceeded in puissance, but Inguiomerus with his band of followers deserted to
Maroboduus; for no other cause than disdain, that an old
man and an uncle like himself, should obey Arminius a young
man his nephew. Both armies were drawn out, with equal hopes; nor disjointed,
like the old German battles, into scattered parties for loose and random
attacks; for, by long war with us, they had learnt to follow their ensigns, to
strengthen their main body with parties of reserve, and to observe the orders
of their Generals. Arminius was now on horseback viewing
all the ranks: as he rode through them he magnified their passed feats; “their
liberty recovered, the slaughtered Legions; the spoils of arms wrested from the
Romans; monuments of victory still retained in some of their hands.” Upon
Maroboduus he fell with contumelious names, as “a fugitive,
one of no abilities in war; a coward, who had sought defence from the gloomy
coverts of the Hercynian wood, and then by gifts and sollicitations,
Edition: current; Page: [138]courted the alliance of Rome; a betrayer of his
country, a lifeguard-man of Cæsar’s, worthy to be
exterminated with no less hostile vengeance than in the slaughter of
Quinctilius Varus they had shewn. Let them only remember so
many battles bravely fought; the events of which, particularly the utter
expulsion of the Romans, were sufficient proofs with whom remained the glory of
the war.”

Neither did Maroboduus fail to boast
himself, and depreciate the foe. “In the person of Inguiomerus, he said, (holding him by the hand) rested the
whole renown of the Cheruscans; and from his counsels began all their exploits
that ended in success. Arminius, a man of a frantic spirit,
and a novice in affairs, assumed to himself the glory of another, for having by
treachery surprized three Legions, which expected no foe, and their leader, who
feared no fraud; a base surprize, revenged since on Germany with heavy
slaughters, and on Arminius himself with domestic infamy,
while his wife and his son still bore the bonds of captivity. For himself; when
attacked formerly by Tiberius at the head of twelve
Legions, he had preserved unstained the glory of Germany, and on equal terms
ended the war. Nor did he repent of the treaty, since it was still in their
hands to wage, anew, equal war with the Romans, or save blood and maintain
peace.” The armies, besides the incitements
Edition: current; Page: [139]from these speeches, were animated by national
stimulations of their own. The Cheruscans fought for their ancient renown, the
Langobards for their recent liberty; and the Suevians and their King, on the
contrary, were struggling for the augmentation of their monarchy. Never did
armies make a fiercer onset, never had onset a more ambiguous event; for, both
the right wings were routed, and hence a fresh encounter was certainly
expected, until Maroboduus drew off his army and encamped
upon the hills; a manifest sign that he was humbled; frequent desertions too
leaving him at last naked of forces, he retired to the Marcomannians, and
thence sent Embassadors to Tiberius, to implore succours.
They were answered, “That he had no right to invoke aid of the Roman arms
against the Cheruscans; since to the Romans, while they were warring with the
same foe, he had never administered any assistance.” Drusus
was however sent away, as I have said, with the character of a negociator of
peace.

The same year, twelve noble cities of Asia were
overturned by an earthquake. The ruine happened in the night, and the more
dreadful as its warnings were unobserved. Neither availed the usual sanctuary
against such calamities; namely, a flight to the fields; since those who fled,
the gaping earth devoured. It is reported, “That mighty mountains subsided,
plains were heaved into high hills; and that with flashes and eruptions of
fire, the mighty
Edition: current; Page: [140]devastation was every where accompanied.” The
Sardians felt most heavily the rage of the concussion, and therefore most
compassion; Tiberius promised them a hundred thousand great
sesterces
d
, and remitted their taxes for five years. The inhabitants of Magnesia
under Mount Sipylus, were held the next in sufferings, and had proportionable
relief. The Temnians, Philadelphians, the Egeatæans, Apollonians, with those
called the Mostenians or Macedonians of Hyrcania, the cities too of
Hierocæsarea, Myrina, Cyme and Tmolus; were all for the same term eased of
tribute. It was likewise resolved to send one of the Senate to view the
desolations, and administer proper remedies. Marcus Aletus
was therefore chosen, one of Prætorian rank; because a Consular Senator then
governing Asia, had another of the like quality been sent, an emulation between
equals was apprehended, and consequently opposition and delays.

The credit of this noble bounty to the public, he
increased by private liberalities, which proved equally popular; the estate of
the wealthy Emilla Musa, claimed by the exchequer, as she
died intestate, he surrendered to Emilius Lepidus, to whose
family she seemed to belong; as also to Marcus Servilius,
the inheritance of Patuleius, a rich Roman Knight, though
part of it had been bequeathed to himself; but he found Servilius named
Edition: current; Page: [141]sole heir in a former and well-attested will. He
said, such was “the nobility of both, that they deserved to be supported.” Nor
did he ever accept to himself any man’s inheritance, but where former
friendship gave him a title. The wills of such as were strangers to him, and of
such as, from hate and prejudice to others, had appointed the Prince their
heir, he utterly rejected. But, as he relieved the honest poverty of the
virtuous, so he degraded from the Senate, (or suffered to quit it of their own
accord) Vibidius Varro, Marius Nepos, Appius Appianus, Cornelius
Sylla, and Quintus Vitellius, all prodigals, and only
through debauchery indigent.

About this time, Tiberius finished
and consecrated what Augustus began, the Temples of the
Gods consumed by age or fire; that near the great Circus, vowed by
Aulus Posthumius the Dictator, to Bacchus, Proserpina and
Ceres; in the same place the Temple of Flora, founded by Lucius
Publicius and Marcus Publicius, while they were
Ædiles; the Temple of Janus, built in the Herb-Market by Caius
Duillius, who first signalized the Roman power at sea, and merited a naval
triumph over the Carthaginians. That of Hope was dedicated by Germanicus. This Temple Atilius had vowed
in the same war.

The Law of violated Majesty, in the mean time, waxed
intense, and by it an accuser impleaded Apuleia Varilia,
grand-niece to Augustus by his sister; for that with
opprobrious
Edition: current; Page: [142]words she had reviled the deified Augustus, Tiberius and his mother; and being nearly allied to
the Emperor, had stained by adultery the Cæsarean blood. Concerning the
adultery, sufficient provision was thought already made by the Julian Law; and
the crimes of state, Tiberius desired, might be separated:
“If she had uttered impious speeches of Augustus, she must
be condemned; but, for invectives against himself, he would not have her called
to any account.” The Consul asked him, “What would be his sentiments, if she
were convicted of defaming his mother?” To this he made no answer; but next
sitting of the Senate, he prayed too in her name, “That no words spoken against
her, might to any one be imputed for crimes;” and acquitted Apuleia of the treason; of her punishment too for adultery, he
begged a mitigation, and prevailed, that, “by the example of our ancestors, she
should be removed by her kindred two hundred miles from Rome.” Manlius her adulterer was interdicted Italy and Africa.

A debate at this time arose about substitueing a Prætor in the room of
Vipsanius Gallus, removed by death. Germanicus and Drusus (for they were yet at
Rome) espoused Haterius Agrippa, kinsman to Germanicus. Many, on the contrary, insisted, that the number of
children should decide it, and the candidate who had most be preferred; for
this was the voice of the law. Tiberius rejoiced
Edition: current; Page: [143]to see the Senate engaged in a contention between his
sons and the laws. The law, without doubt, was vanquished, yet not instantly,
and by a small majority; but with the same struggle that laws were vanquished
when laws were in force.

This year a war began in Africa, conducted by
Tacfarinas. He was a native of Numidia, and had served
amongst the auxiliaries in the Roman armies, but deserting the service,
gathered together, by the allurements of booty and rapine, at first a herd of
vagabonds and men inured to robberies; then formed them, like an army, into
regular companies of foot, and troops of horse, under distinct standards and
colours. At length he was no longer esteemed the leader of a disorderly gang,
but considered as General of the Musulanians. This powerful people, borderers
upon the desarts of Africa, still wild, and without towns, took arms, and drew
into the war the neighbouring Moors. These too had a General of their own, his
name Mazippa; and between the two leaders the army was
divided, that, whilst Tacfarinas encamped with the best
men, armed after the fashion of Romans, and accustomed them to discipline and
command, Mazippa, with a flying band, might make excursions
on every side, with fire, slaughter, and alarms. They had likewise forced the
Cinithians into their measures, a nation no wise despicable; when
Furius Camillus, Proconsul of Africa, marched against the
enemy
Edition: current; Page: [144]with one Legion, and what troops of the Allies were
under his command; a handful of men at most, when compared to the multitude of
Numidians and Moors! But it was his first care not to intimidate them with
numbers, and thence tempt them to elude fighting, and prolong the war. Indeed,
he gave them hopes of victory, only to enable himself to vanquish them. The
Legion was placed in the center, the light cohorts, and two wings of horse on
the right and left. Nor did Tacfarinas decline the combat.
The Numidians were routed; and, after a long series of years, military renown
recovered to the name of Furius. For since Camillus the restorer of Rome and his son, the glory of command
and victories continued in other families. Even he whom I have mentioned,
passed for a man destitute of military abilities and experience in war. Hence
Tiberius magnified with the more unfeigned alacrity his
exploits to the Senate, and to him the fathers decreed the ensigns of triumph.
Yet to Camillus all this merit and distinction proved to
snare, protected as he was by a life singularly modest and retired.

The Consuls for the following year were, Tiberius the third time, Germanicus the
second. This dignity overtook Germanicus at Nicopolis, a
city of Achaia, whither he arrived, by the coast of Illyricum, from visiting
his brother Drusus, then abiding in Dalmatia, and had
suffered a tempestuous passage, both in the Adriatic and Ionian sea. He
therefore
Edition: current; Page: [145]spent a few days to repair his fleet, and viewed the
while the Bay of Actium, renowned for the naval victory there, as also the
spoils consecrated by Augustus, and the Camp of
Anthony, with an affecting remembrance of these his
ancestors; for Anthony, as I have said, was his great
uncle, Augustus his grandfather. Hence this scene proved to
Germanicus a mighty source of images pleasing and sad. Next
he proceeded to Athens, where, in concession to that ancient city, allied to
Rome, he would use but one Lictor. The Greeks received him with the most
elaborate honours, and, to dignify their personal flattery, carried before him
tablatures of the signal deeds and sayings of his ancestors.

Hence he sailed to Eubœa, thence to Lesbos, where
Agrippina was delivered of Julia, who
proved her last child. Then he kept the coast of Asia, and visited Perinthus
and Byzantium, cities of Thrace, and entered the streights of Propontis, and
the mouth of the Euxine, fond of beholding ancient places long celebrated by
fame. He relieved, at the same time, the provinces where-ever distracted with
intestine factions, or aggrieved with the oppressions of their Magistrates. In
his return he strove to see the religious rites of the Samothracians, but, by
the violence of the north wind was repulsed from the shore As he passed, he saw
Troy and her remains, venerable for the vicissitude of her fate, and for the
birth of Rome. Regaining the coast of Asia, he put
Edition: current; Page: [146]in at Colophon, to consult there the Oracle of the
Clarian Apollo. It is no Pythoness that represents the God here, as at Delphos,
but a priest, one chosen from certain families, chiefly of Miletus; neither requires he more than just to hear the names
and numbers of the querists, and then descends into the oracular cave; where,
after a draught of water from a secret spring, though ignorant for the most
part of Letters and Poetry, he yet utters his answers in Verse, which has for
its subject the conceptions and wishes of cach consultant. He was even said to
have sung to Germanicus his hastening fate, but, as Oracles
are wont, in terms dark and doubtful.

Now Cneius Piso, hurrying to the execution of his purposes,
terrified the city of Athens by a tempestuous entry, and reproached them in a
severe speech, with oblique censure of Germanicus, “that,
debasing the dignity of the Roman name, he had paid excessive court, not to the
Athenians, by so many slaughters long since extinct, but to the then mixed scum
of nations there; for that these were they who had leagued with Mithridates against Sylla, and with
Anthony against Augustus.” He even
charged them with the errors and misfortunes of ancient Athens; her impotent
attempts against the Macedonians; her violence and ingratitude to her own
citizens. He was also an enemy to their city from personal anger; because they
would not pardon, at his request, one Theophilus,Edition: current; Page: [147]condemned by the Areopagus for forgery. From thence,
sailing hastily through the Cyclades, and taking the shortest course, he
overtook Germanicus at Rhodes, but was there driven by a
sudden tempest upon the rocks; and Germanicus, who was not
ignorant with what malignity and invectives he was pursued, yet acted with so
much humanity, that, when he might have left him to perish, and have referred
to casualty the destruction of his enemy, he dispatched galleys, to rescue him
from the wreck. This generous kindness, however, asswaged not the animosity of
Piso; scarce could he brook a day’s delay with
Germanicus, but left him in haste to arrive in Syria before
him. Nor was he sooner there, and found himself amongst the Legions, than he
began to court the common men by bounties and caresses, to assist them with his
countenance and credit, to form factions, to remove all the ancient Centurions,
and every Tribune of remarkable discipline and severity, and, in their places,
to put dependents of his own, or men recommended only by their crimes. He
permitted sloth in the camp, licentiousness in the towns, a rambling and
disorderly soldiery, and carried the corruption so high, that in the discourses
of the herd, he was stiled Father of the Legions. Nor did
Plancina restrain herself to a conduct seemly in her sex,
but frequented the exercises of the cavalry, and attended the decursions of the
Cohorts, every where in weighing
Edition: current; Page: [148]against Agrippina, every where
against Germanicus; and some, even of the most deserving
soldiers, became prompt to base obedience, from a rumour whispered abroad,
“that all this was not unacceptable to Tiberius.”

These doings were all known to Germanicus;
but his more instant care was, to visit Armenia, an inconstant and restless
nation from the beginning, from the genius of the people, as well as from the
situation of their country, which, bordering with a large frontier on our
provinces, and stretching thence quite to Media, is inclosed between the two
great Empires, and often at variance with them; with the Romans through
antipathy and hatred, with the Parthians through competition and envy. At this
time, and ever since the removal of Vonones, they had no
King; but the affections of the nations leaned to Zeno, son
of Polemon King of Pontus, because by an attachment, from
his infancy, to the fashions and customs of the Armenians, by hunting,
feasting, and other usages practised and renowned amongst the Barbarians, he
had equally won the nobles and people. Upon his head, therefore, at the city of
Artaxata, with the approbation of the nobles, in a great assembly,
Germanicus put the regal Diadem; and the Armenians doing
homage to their King, saluted him, Artaxias, a name which
from that of their city, they gave him. The Cappadocians, at this time reduced
into the form of a province, received for their Governor, Quintus
Edition: current; Page: [149]Veranius; and, to raise their hopes of the
gentler dominion of Rome, several of the royal taxes were lessened.
Quintus Serveus was set over the Comagenians, then first
subjected to the jurisdiction of a Prætor.

From the affairs of the Allies, thus all successfully
settled, Germanicus reaped no pleasure, through the
perverseness and pride of Piso, who was ordered to lead, by
himself or his son, part of the Legions into Armenia, but contemptuously
neglected to do either. They, at last, met at Cyrrum, the winter quarters of
the tenth Legion, whither each came with a prepared countenance; Piso to betray no fear, and Germanicus
would not be thought to threaten. He was indeed, as I have observed, of a
humane and reconcileable spirit: but, officious friends, expert at inflaming
animosities, aggravated real offences, added fictitious, and with manifold
imputations charged Piso, Plancina, and their sons. To this
interview Germanicus admitted a few intimates, and began
his complaints in such words as dissembled resentment usually dictates.
Piso replied with disdainful submissions, and they parted
in open enmity. Piso, hereafter, came rarely to the
Tribunal of Germanicus; or, if he did, sate sternly there,
and in manifest opposition. He likewise published his spite at a feast of the
Nabathean King’s, where golden Crowns of great weight were presented to
Germanicus and Agrippina; but to
Piso and the rest, such as were light. “This banquet, he
said, was made
Edition: current; Page: [150]for the son of a Roman Prince, not of a Parthian
Monarch.” With these words, he cast away his crown, and uttered many invectives
against luxury. Sharp insults upon Germanicus! yet he bore
them.

At this time arrived Ambassadors from Artabanus King of the Parthians. He sent them “to represent the
state of the mutual league and friendship between the two Empires, how desirous
he was to renew it; that, in honour to Germanicus, he would
come to receive him as far as the banks of the Euphrates; and requested, in the
mean time, that Vonones might not be continued in Syria,
lest, taking the advantage of so near a neighbourhood, he should, by
corresponding with the Grandees of Parthia, ingage them in civil dissention and
rebellion.” The answer given by Germanicus, as far as
related to the alliance of the Romans and Parthians, was conceived in terms of
dignity and grandeur; but, of the coming of the King, and the court and
veneration intended to himself, he spoke with becoming complaisance and
modesty. Vonones was removed to Pompeiopolis, a maritime
city of Cilicia, a concession made, not to the request of Artabanus only, but in contumely to Piso,
with whom Vonones was high in favour, for the assiduous
court and many presents by which he had won Plancina.

In the Consulship of Marcus Silanus
and Lucius Norbanus, Germanicus travelled to Ægypt, to view
the famous Antiquities of the
Edition: current; Page: [151]country; though for the motives of the journey, the
care and inspection of the province were publicly alledged: and, indeed, by
opening the granaries, he mitigated the price of corn, and practised many
things grateful to the people; walking without guards, his feet bare, and his
habit the same with that of the Greeks; after the example of Publius Scipio, who, we are told, was constant in the same
practices in Sicily, even during the rage of the Punic War there. For these his
assumed manners and foreign habit, Tiberius blamed him in a
gentle stile, but censured him with great asperity for violating an
establishment of Augustus, and entring Alexandria without
consent of the Prince. For Augustus, amongst other secrets
of power, had set apart and appropriated Ægypt, and restrained the Senators and
dignified Roman Knights from going thither without licence; as he apprehended
that Italy might be distressed with famine, by any who seized that province,
the key to the Empire by sea and land, and defensible by a light band of men
against potent armies.

Germanicus, not yet informed that his journey was
censured, sailed up the Nile, beginning at Canopus, one of its mouths, built by
the Spartans, as a monument to Canopus, a Pilot buried
there, at the time when Menelaus, returning to Greece, was
driven to different seas and the Libyan continent. Hence he visited the next
mouth of the river sacred to Hercules. Him the natives
averr to have been
Edition: current; Page: [152]born amongst them; that he was the most ancient of
the name, and that all the rest, who, with equal virtues, followed his example,
were, in honour, called after him. Next he visited the mighty antiquities of
ancient Thebes, where, upon huge Obelisks yet remained Ægyptian Characters,
describing its former opulency. One of the oldest Priests was ordered to
interpret them; he said they related “that it once contained seven hundred
thousand fighting men; that with that army King Rhamses had
conquered Libya, Ethiopia, the Medes and Persians, the Bactrians and Scythians;
and to his Empire had added the territories of the Syrians, Armenians, and
their neighbours the Cappadocians; a tract of countries reaching from the sea
of Bithynia to that of Lycia.” Here also was read the assessment of Tribute
laid on the several nations; what weight of silver and gold; what number of
horses and arms; what ivory and perfumes, as gifts to the Temples; what
measures of grain; what quantities of all necessaries, were by each people
paid; revenues equally grand with those exacted by the domination of the
Parthians, or by the Power of the Romans.

Germanicus was intent upon seeing other wonders. The
chief were, the effigies of Memnon, a Colossus of stone,
yielding, when struck by the solar rays, a vocal found; the Pyramids rising,
like mountains, amongst rolling and almost impassable waves of sand, proud
monuments of the emulation and opulency of
Edition: current; Page: [153]Ægyptian Kings; the artificial Lake, a receptacle of
the overflowing Nile; and elsewhere abysses of such immense depth, that those
who tried, could never fathom. Thence he proceeded to Elphantina and Syene, two
Islands, formerly frontiers of the Roman Empire, which is now widened to the
Red-Sea.

Whilst Germanicus spent this summer in several
provinces, Drusus was sowing feuds amongst the Germans, and
thence reaped no light renown; and, as the power of Maroboduus was already broken, he engaged them to persist and
complete his ruin. Amongst the Gotones was a young man of quality, his name
Catualda, a fugitive long since from the violence of
Maroboduus, but now, in his distress, resolved on revenge.
Hence, with a stout band, he entered the borders of the Marcomannians, and,
corrupting their chiefs into his alliance, stormed the regal palace, and the
castle situate near it. In the pillage were found the ancient stores of prey
accumulated by the Suevians, as also many victuallers and traders from our
provinces; men who were drawn hither from their several homes, first by
privilege of traffic, then retained by a passion to multiply gain, and at last,
through utter oblivion of their own country, fixed, like natives, in a hostile
soil.

To Maroboduus, on every side forsaken, no other refuge
remained but the mercy of Cæsar. He therefore passed the
Danube where it washes the province of Norica, and wrote to
Edition: current; Page: [154]Tiberius, not however in the
language of a fugitive or supplicant, but with a spirit suitable to his late
grandeur; “that many nations invited him to them, as a King once so glorious;
but he preferred to all the friendship or Rome.” The Emperor answered, “that in
Italy he should have a safe and honourable retreat, and, when his affairs
required his presence, the same security to return.” But to the Senate he
declared, “that never had Philip of Macedon been so
terrible to the Athenians; nor Pyrrhus, nor Antiochus to the Roman people.” The speech is extant: in it he
magnifies “the greatness of the man, the fierceness and bravery of the nations
his subjects; the alarming nearness of such an enemy to Italy, and his own
artful measures to destroy him.” Maroboduus was kept at
Ravenna, for a check and terror to the Suevians; as if, when at any time they
grew turbulent, he were there in readiness to recover their subjection. Yet in
eighteen years he left not Italy, but grew old in exile there; his renown too
became eminently diminished. Such was the price which he paid for an
overpassionate love of life. The same sate had Catualda,
and no other sanctuary; he was soon after expulsed by the forces of the
Hermundurians, led by Vibilius, and being received under
the Roman protection, was conveyed to Forum Julium, a Colony in Narbon Gaul.
The Barbarians, their followers, lest, had they been mixed with the provinces,
Edition: current; Page: [155]they might have disturbed their present quiet, were
placed beyond the Danube, between the rivers Marus and Cusus, and for their
King had assigned them Vannius, by nation a Quadian.

As soon as it was known at Rome, that Artaxias was by Germanicus given to the
Armenians for their King, the fathers decreed to him and Drusus the lesser Triumph. Triumphal arches were likewise
erected, on each side the Temple of Marsthe Avenger, supporting the statues of these two
Cæsars; and for Tiberius, he was more
joyful to have established peace by policy, than if by battles and victories he
had ended the war. He therefore also assailed by the ways of craft
Rhescuporis a King of Thrace. That whole nation had been
subject to Rhemetalces; but, upon his death, one moiety was
by Augustus granted to Rhescuporis his
brother, and one to Cotys his son. In this partition, the
vales, cities, and territories bounding upon Greece, fell to Cotys; to Rhescuporis the wilds, the hills,
and the parts exposed to a hostile neighbourhood. The two Kings were likewise
dissonant in their genius, the former mild and agreeable; the latter cruel,
rapacious, and impatient of equality. Yet, at first they lived in hollow
friendship, but, in a while, Rhescuporis began to break
bounds, to seize for himself the portions of Cotys, and,
where he met resistance, to exercise violence; cautiously, it is true, and by
degrees, in the life of Augustus,Edition: current; Page: [156]to whose grant they owed both their Kingdoms and, if
his authority had been despised, his vengeance was dreaded. But, upon the
change of Emperors, he poured in bands of robbers, demolished forts, and thus
sought to provoke war.

Tiberius was about no consideration of state so anxious,
as that things once settled should never after be molested. He instantly
dispatched a Centurion to the two Kings, to forbid their proceeding to a
decision by arms; and Cotys forthwith dismissed the forces
he had raised. Rhescuporis feigned submission, and desired
an interview, “for that by treaty, he said, they might adjust all their
differences:” and, upon the time, the place, and even upon the conditions, they
quickly agreed, while one through easiness, one through fraud, yielded and
accepted every proposition. Rhescuporis, for a sanction, as
he pretended, to the league, added a banquet, and the festivity and drinking
was prolonged till midnight, when Cotys, warm with wine and
feasting, and void of circumspection, was suddenly loaded with chains,
deprecating in vain the brutal treachery, “by the inviolable rights of Kings,
by the common Gods of their family, by that very banquet of sacred pledge of
concord and hospitality.” Rhescuporis, having now seized
all Thrace, wrote to Tiberius, “that bloody snares were
contrived for him, but he had anticipated the contriver;” and, pretending a war
against the Basternæans and Scythians,
Edition: current; Page: [157]fortified himself with new forces, horse and
foot.

He had a soft answer, “that if he had practised no
guile, he might securely trust to his innocence; but, neither could he himself
nor the Senate, without hearing the cause, distinguish between justice and
violence: that therefore, delivering up Cotys, he should
come, and upon him effectually transfer the odium of the crime.” This letter
Latinius Pandus, Proprætor of Mesia, transmitted to Thrace,
by the soldiers sent to receive Cotys. Rhescuporis,
wavering long between fear and rage, determined at last rather to be guilty of
a finished than an imperfect villainy: he caused Cotys to
be murdered, and belied his death, as if by his own hands it had been procured
Neither yet did Tiberius change his favourite course of
dissembling, but, upon the death of Pandus, whom
Rhescuporis alledged to have been his enemy, preferred to
the Government of Mesia Pomponius Flaccus, an ancient
officer, one in close friendship with the King, and by it more qualified to
betray him; hence chiefly he was preferred.

Flaccus passed into Thrace, and, though he found him
full of hesitation, and revolving with great dismay upon the crying horror of
his own wickedness, yet, by mighty promises, prevailed upon him to enter the
Roman barrier. Here the King, on pretence of solemnity and honour, was
surrounded with a strong party, and a crowd of officers, who pressed
Edition: current; Page: [158]him by earnest exhortations, and many arguments, and
the further they travelled, the more apparent to him was his confinement; so
that at last, convinced of the necessity of going, he was by them haled to
Rome. He was accused before the Senate by the wife of Cotys, and condemned to exile far from his Kingdom. Thrace was
divided between Rhemetalces his son, who, it was manifest,
had opposed all his father’s outrageous measures; and the sons of
Cotys. These were minors, and placed with their Kingdom
under the administration of Trebellienus Rufus, formerly
Prætor, after the example of our Ancestors, who sent Marcus
Lepidus into Ægypt, in quality of guardian to the children of
Ptolemy. Rhescuporis was transported to Alexandria, and
there slain, attempting flight, or falsly charged with it.

At the same time, Vonones, who had
been removed, as I have above related, into Cilicia, corrupted his keepers, and
endeavoured to escape to Armenia, thence to the Albanians and Heniochians, and
then to his kinsman the King of Scythia. Thus pretending to hunt, and avoiding
the maritime coasts, he gained the devious recesses of the forests; and then,
on a sudden, rode full speed to the River Pyramus. But, the country-men,
apprized of the King’s flight, had broken the bridges; neither was the stream
to be forded. Upon the banks therefore of the river, he was by Vibius Fronto, General of horse, put in bonds, and
Edition: current; Page: [159]presently after, by Remmius, a
resumed Veteran, lately his keeper, run through, in affected wrath, with a
sword. Hence arose the stronger belief that, from consciousness of fraud, and
dread of discovery, Vonones was slain.

Germanicus returning from Ægypt, learned that all his
orders left with the Legions, and the Eastern cities, were either intirely
abolished, or contrary regulations established; a ground for his severe
resentment and reproaches upon Piso. Nor less keen were the
efforts and machinations of Piso against Germanicus. Yet Piso afterwards determined
to leave Syria, but was detained by the following illness of Germanicus. Again, when he heard of his recovery, and perceived
that vows were paid for his restoration, the Lictors, by his command, broke the
solemnity, drove away the victims, already at the altars, overturned the
apparatus of the sacrifice, and scattered the people of Antioch employed in
celebrating the festival. He then departed to Seleucia, waiting the event of
the malady, which had again assaulted Germanicus. His own
persuasion too, that poyson was given him by Piso,
heightened the cruel vehemence of the disease. Indeed, upon the floors and
walls were found fragments of human bodies, the spoils of the grave, with
charms and incantations, and the name of Germanicus graved
on sheets of lead, carcasses half burnt, besmeared with gore, and other
witchcrafts, by which souls are thought doomed to the infernal gods. Besides,
there were certain
Edition: current; Page: [160]persons, charged as creatures of Piso, purposely sent and employed to watch the progress and
efforts of the disease.

These things filled Germanicus with
apprehensions great as his resentment. “If his doors, he said, were besieged,
if under the eyes of his enemies he must render up his spirit, what was to be
expected to his unhappy wife, what to his infant children? The progress of
poyson was thought too slow. Piso was impatient, and urging
with eagerness to command alone the Legions, to possess alone the province: but
Germanicus was not sunk to such lowness and impotence, that
the price of his murder should remain with the murderer:” and by a Letter to
Piso, he renounced his friendship. Some add, that he
commanded him to depart the province. Nor did Piso tarry
longer, but took ship, yet checked her sailing, in order to return with the
more quickness, should the death of Germanicus the while
leave the Government of Syria vacant.

Germanicus, after a small revival, drooping again, when
his end approached, spoke on this wise to his attending friends. “Were I to
yield to the destiny of nature, Just, even then, were my complaints against the
Gods, for hurrying me from my parents, my children, and my country, by a hasty
death, in the prime of life. Now, shortened in my course by the malignity of
Piso, and his wife, to your breasts I commit my last
prayers.
Edition: current; Page: [161]Tell my father, tell my brother, with what violent
persecutions afflicted, with what mortal snares circumvented, I end a most
miserable life by death of all others the worst. All they whose hopes in my
fortune, all they whose kindred blood, and even they whose envy, possessed them
with impressions about me whilst living, shall bewail me dead, that once great
in glory, and surviveing so many wars, I fell at last by the dark devices of a
woman. To you place will be left to complain in the Senate, place to invoke the
aid and vengeance of the Laws. To commemorate the dead with slothful wailings,
is not the principal office of friends: They are to remember his dying wishes,
to fulfil his last desires. Even strangers will lament Germanicus. You are my friends; if you loved me rather than my
fortune, you will vindicate your friendship. Shew the people of Rome my wife,
her who is the grand-daughter of Augustus, and enumerate to
them our offspring, even six children. Their compassion will surely attend you
who accuse; and the accused, if they pretend clandestine warrants of iniquity,
will not be believed; if believed, not pardoned.” His friends, as a pledge of
their fidelity, touching the hand of the dying Prince, swore that they would
forego their lives sooner than their revenge. Then turning to his wife, he
besought her, “That in tenderness to his memory, in tenderness to their common
children, she
Edition: current; Page: [162]would banish her haughty spirit, yield to her hostile
fortune; nor, upon her return to Rome, by an impotent competition for ruleing,
irritate those who were masters of rule.” So much openly, and more in secret,
whence he was believed to have warned her of guile and danger from
Tiberius. Soon after he expired, to the heavy sorrow of the
province, and of all the neighbouring countries; insomuch that remote nations
and foreign Kings were mourners: such had been his complacency to our
confederates; such his humanity to his enemies! Alike venerable he was, whether
you saw him, or heard him; and without ever departing from the grave port and
dignity of his sublime rank, he yet lived destitute of arrogance, and untouched
by envy.

The funeral, which was performed without exteriour pomp
or a procession of images, drew its solemnity from the loud praises and amiable
memory of his virtues. There were those who, from the loveliness of his person,
his age, his manner of dying, and even from the proximity of places where both
departed, compared him, in the circumstances of his fate, to the Great
Alexander; “each of a graceful person, each of illustrious
descent; in years neither much exceeding thirty; both victims to the malice and
machinations of their own people, in the midst of foreign nations; but
Germanicus, gentle towards his friends, his pleasures
moderate, confined to one wife, all his children by one bed;
Edition: current; Page: [163]nor less a warriour, though not so rash, however
hindered from a final reduction of Germany, broken by him in so many victories,
and ready for the yoke. So that had he been sole arbiter of things, had he
acted with the Sovereignty and title of Royalty, he had easier overtaken him in
the glory of conquests, as he surpassed him in clemency, in moderation, and in
other virtues.” His body, before its commitment to the pile, was exhibited
naked in the Forum of Antioch, the place where the pile was erected. Whether it bore the marks of poyson,
remained undecided: for people, as they were divided in their affections, as
they pitied Germanicus, and presumed the guilt of
Piso, or were partial to him, gave opposite accounts.

It was next debated amongst the legates of the Legions,
and the other Senators there, to whom should be committed the administration of
Syria: and, after the faint efforts of others, it was long disputed between
Vibius Marsus and Cneius Sentius.
Marsus at last yielded to Sentius, the older man, and
the more vehement competitor. By him one Martina, infamous
in that province for practices in poisoning, and a close confident of
Plancina, was sent to Rome, at the suit of Vitellius, Veranius, and others, who were preparing criminal
articles against Piso and Plancina, as
against persons evidently guilty.

Agrippina, though overwhelmed with sorrow, and her body
indisposed, yet impatient
Edition: current; Page: [164]of all delays to her revenge, imbarked with the ashes
of Germanicus, and her children, attended with universal
commiseration: “That a Lady, in quality a Princess, wont to be beheld in her
late splendid wedlock with applauses and adorations, was now seen bearing in
her bosom her husband’s funeral urn, uncertain of vengeance for him, and
fearful for herself, unfortunate in her fruitfulness, and from so many children
obnoxious to so many blows of fortune.” Piso, the while,
was overtaken at the Isle of Cous by a message, “that Germanicus was deceased,” and received it intemperately, slew
victims and repaired with thanksgiving to the Temples. Yet, however immoderate
and undisguised was his joy, more arrogant and insulting proved that of
Plancina, who immediately threw off her mourning, which for
the death of a sister she wore, and assumed a dress adapted to gaiety and
gladness.

About him flocked the Centurions with officious
representations, “That upon him particularly were bent the affections and zeal
of the Legions, and he should proceed to resume the province, at first
injuriously taken from him, and now destitute of a Governor.” As he therefore
consulted what he had best pursue, his son Marcus Piso
advised “a speedy journey to Rome. Hitherto, he said, nothing past expiation,
was committed; neither were impotent suspicions to be dreaded; nor the idle
blazonings of fame.
Edition: current; Page: [165]His variance and contention with Germanicus was, perhaps, subject to popular hate and aversion,
but to no prosecution or penalty; and, by bereaving him of the province, his
enemies were gratified. But if he returned thither, as Sentius would certainly oppose him with arms, a civil war would
thence be actually begun. Neither would the Centurions and soldiers persist in
his party, men with whom the recent memory of their late Commander, and an
inveterate love to the Cæsars in general, were still prevalent.”

Domitius Celer, one in intimate credit with
Piso, argued on the contrary, “That the present event must
by all means be improved; it was Piso, and not
Sentius, who had commission to govern Syria; upon him were
conferred the jurisdiction of Prætor, and the badges of Magistracy, and with
him the Legions were intrusted. So that if acts of hostility were by his
opponents attempted, with how much better warrant could he avow assuming arms
in his own right and defence, who was thus vested with the authority of
General, and acted under special orders from the Emperor. Rumours too were to
be neglected, and left to perish with time. In truth, to the sallies and
violence of recent hate, the innocent were often unequal. But were he once
possessed of the Army, and had well augmented his forces, many things, not to
be foreseen, would from
Edition: current; Page: [166]fortune derive success. Are we then preposterously
hastening to arrive at Rome with the ashes of Germanicus,
that you may there fall, unheard and undefended, a victim to the wailings of
Agrippina, a prey to the passionate populace governed by
the first impressions of rumour? Livia, it is true, is your
confederate, Tiberius is your friend; but both secretly:
and indeed none will more pompously bewail the violent fate of Germanicus, than such as do most sincerely rejoice for it.”

Piso, of himself prompt to violent pursuits, was with no
great labour persuaded into this opinion, and, in a Letter transmitted to
Tiberius, accused Germanicus “of luxury
and pride; that for himself, he had been expulsed, to leave room for dangerous
designs against the State, and now resumed, with his former faith and loyalty,
the care of the Army.” In the mean time he put Domitius on
board a galley, and ordered him to avoid appearing upon the Coasts or amongst
the Isles, but, through the main sea, to sail to Syria. The deserters, who from
all quarters were flocking to him in crowds, he formed into companies, and
armed all the retainers to the Camp; then sailing over to the continent,
intercepted a regiment of recruits, upon their march into Syria, and wrote to
the small Kings of Cilicia to assist him with present succours. Nor was the
younger Piso slow in prosecuting all the
Edition: current; Page: [167]measures of war, though to adventure a war had been
against his sentiments and advice.

As they coasted Lycia and Pamphylia, they encountered
the ships which carried Agrippina, with hostile spirits on
each side, and each at first prepared for combat; but as equal dread of one
another possessed both, they proceeded not further than mutual contumelies.
Vibius Marsus particularly summoned Piso, as a criminal, to Rome, there to make his defence. He
answered, with derision, “That when the Prætor, who was to sit upon poysonings,
had assigned a day to the accusers and the accused, he would attend.”
Domitius, the while, landing at Laodicea, a city of Syria,
would have proceeded to the winter-quarters of the sixth Legion, which he
believed to be the most prone to engage in novel attempts, but was prevented by
Pacuvius, its commander. Sentius
represented this by Letter to Piso, and warned him, “at his
peril to infect the Camp by ministers of corruption, or to assail the province
by war,” and drew into a body such as he knew loved Germanicus, or such as were averse to his foes. Upon them he
inculcated with much ardour, that Piso was with open arms
attacking the majesty of the Prince, and invading the Roman state; and then
marched at the head of a puissant body, equipped for battle, and resolute to
engage.

Neither failed Piso, though his
enterprizes had thus far miscarried, to apply the securest
Edition: current; Page: [168]remedies to his present perplexities, and therefore
seized a Castle of Cilicia strongly fortified, its name Celendris. For, to the
Auxiliary Cilicians, sent him by the petty Kings, he had joined his body of
deserters, as also the recruits lately intercepted, with all his own and
Plancina’s slaves; and thus in number and bulk, had of the
whole composed a Legion. To them he thus harangued; “I, who am the Lieutenant
of Cæsar, am yet violently excluded from the province which
to me Cæsar has committed; not excluded by the Legions,
(for by their invitation I am arrived) but by Sentius, who
thus disguises, under feigned crimes against me, his own animosity, and
personal hate. But with confidence you may stand in battle, where the opposite
army, upon the sight of Piso, a Commander lately by
themselves stiled their Father, will certainly refuse to
fight; they know too, that were right to decide it, I am the stronger; and of
no mean puissance in a trial at arms.” He then arrayed his men without the
fortifications, on a hill steep and craggy, for all the rest was begirt by the
sea. Against them stood the Veterans regularly embattled, and supported with a
body of reserve; so that here appeared the force of men, there only the terror
and stubbornness of situation. On Piso’s side was no
spirit, no hope, nor even weapons, save those of rustics, for instant necessity
hastily acquired. As soon as they came to blows, the issue was no longer
Edition: current; Page: [169]doubtful than while the Roman Cohorts struggled up
the steep. The Cilicians then fled, and shut themselves up in the Castle.

Piso having the while attempted in vain to storm the
fleet, which rode at a small distance, as soon as he returned, presented
himself upon the walls; where, by a succession of passionate complaints and
intreaties, now bemoaning in agonies the bitterness of his lot, then calling
and cajoling every particular soldier by his name, and by rewards tempting all,
he laboured to excite a sedition; and thus much he had already effected, that
the Eagle-bearer of the sixth Legion revolted to him with his Eagle. This
alarmed Sentius, and instantly he commanded the cornets and
trumpets to sound, a mount to be raised, the ladders placed, and the bravest
men to mount, and others to pour from the Engines volleys of darts, and stones,
and flaming torches. The obstinacy of Piso was at last
vanquished; and he desired, “that, upon delivering his arms, he might remain in
the Castle till the Emperor’s pleasure, to whom he would commit the Government
of Syria, were known;” conditions which were not accepted, nor was ought
granted him, save ships, and a passport to Rome.

After the illness of Germanicus
became noised abroad there, and all its circumstances, like rumours magnified
by distance, were related with many aggravations, sadness seized the people.
They burned with indignation, and
Edition: current; Page: [170]even poured out in plaints the anguish of their
souls: “For this, they said, he had been banished to the extremities of the
Empire, for this the province of Syria was committed to Piso, and these the fruits of Livia’s
mysterious conferences with Plancina. Truly had our fathers
spoken concerning his father Drusus, that the possessors of
rule beheld with an evil eye the popular spirit of their sons; nor for aught
else were they sacrificed, but for their equal treatment of the Roman people,
and studying to restore the popular state.” These lamentations of the populace
were, upon the tidings of his death, so inflamed, that, without staying for an
Edict from the Magistrates, without a Decree of Senate, they by general consent
assumed a vacation; the public Courts were deserted, private houses shut up,
prevalent every-where were the symptoms of woe, heavy groans, dismal silence;
the whole a scene of real sorrow, and nothing devised for form or shew; and,
though they forbore not to bear the exterior marks and habiliments of mourning,
in their souls they mourned still deeper. Accidentally some Merchants from
Syria, who had left Germanicus still alive, brought more
joyful news of his condition. These were instantly believed, and instantly
proclaimed: each, as fast as they met, informed others, who forthwith conveyed
their light information with improvements, and accumulated joy, to more; all
flew with exultation through the city, and, to pay their thanks
Edition: current; Page: [171]and vows, burst open the Temple doors. The night too
heightened their credulity, and affirmation was bolder in the dark. Nor did
Tiberius restrain the course of these fictions, but left
them to vanish with time. Hence with more bitterness they afterwards grieved
for him, as if anew snatched from them.

Honours were invented and decreed to Germanicus, various as the affections and genius of the
particular Senators who proposed them; “that his name should be sung in the
Salian Hymns; Curule Chairs placed for him amongst the Priests of
Augustus, and over these Chairs Oaken Crowns hung; his
Statue in Ivory precede in the Circensian Games; none but one of the Julian
race be, in the room of Germanicus, created Flamen or
Augur:” Triumphal arches were added, one at Rome, one upon the banks of the
Rhine, one upon mount Amanus in Syria, with inscriptions of his exploits, and a
testimony subjoined, “that he died for the Commonwealth;” a Sepulchre at
Antioch, where his corps was burnt; a tribunal at Epidaphne, the place where he
ended his life. The multitude of statues, the many places where divine honours
were appointed to be paid him, would not be easily recounted. They would have
also decreed him, as to one of the masters of Eloquence, a golden shield,
signal in bulk as in metal; but Tiberius offered “to
dedicate one himself, such as was usual and of a like size with others; for
that Eloquence was
Edition: current; Page: [172]not measured by fortune; and it was sufficient glory,
if he were ranked with ancient Writers.” The Battalion called after the name of
the Junii, was now, by the Equestrian order, entitled the
Battalion of Germanicus, and a rule made, that on every
fifteenth of July, these troops should follow, as their standard, the effigies
of Germanicus. Of these honours many continue, some were
instantly omitted, or by time are utterly obliterated.

In the height of this public sorrow, Livia,
sister to Germanicus, and married to Drusus, was delivered of male twins; an event even in middling
families, rare and acceptable, and to Tiberius such mighty
matter of joy, that he could not refrain boasting to the fathers, “that to no
Roman of the same eminence, before him, were ever two children born at a birth.
For to his own glory he turned all things, even things fortuitous. But to the
people, at such a sad conjuncture, it brought fresh anguish, as they feared
that the family of Drusus, thus increased, would press
heavy upon that of Germanicus.

The same year the lubricity of women was by the Senate
restrained with severe laws; and it was provided, “that no woman should become
venal, if her father, grandfather or husband, were Roman Knights.” For
Vistilia, a Lady born of a Prætorian family, had, before
the Ædiles, published herself a prostitute, upon a custom allowed by our
ancestors, who thought that prostitutes were, by thus avowing their infamy,
Edition: current; Page: [173]sufficiently punished. Titidius
Labeo too was questioned, that in the manifest guilt of his wife, he had
neglected the punishment prescribed by the law; but he alledged, that the sixty
days allowed for consultation, were not elapsed; and it was deemed sufficient
to proceed against Vistilia, who was banished to the Isle
of Seriphos. Measures were also taken for exterminating the solemnities of the
Jews and Ægyptians; and by decree of Senate four thousand descendents of
franchised slaves, all tainted with that superstition, but of proper strength
and age, were to be transported to Sardinia, to restrain the Sardinian robbers;
and if, through the malignity of the climate, they perished, despicable would
be the loss. The rest were doomed to depart Italy, unless by a stated day they
renounced their profane rites.

After this, Tiberius represented,
that, to supply the place of Occia, who had presided seven
and fifty years with the highest sanctimony over the Vestals, another Virgin
was to be chosen, and thanked Fonteius Agrippa, and
Asinius Pollio, that, by offering their daughters, they
contended in good offices towards the Commonwealth. Pollio’s daughter was preferred, for nothing else but that her
mother had ever continued in the same wedlock; for Agrippa,
by a divorce, had impaired the credit of his house. Upon her who was postponed,
Tiberius, in consolation, bestowed for her fortune a
thousand great sesterces.
*

Edition: current; Page: [174]

As the people murmured at the severe dearth of corn, he settled grain at a
price certain to the buyer, and undertook to pay fourteen pence a measure to
the seller. Neither yet would he accept the name of Father of
his Country, a title offered him before, and for these bounties, now
again; nay, he sharply rebuked such as stiled these provisions of his,
divine occupations, and him, Lord.
Hence freedom of speech became cramped and insecure under such a Prince, one
who dreaded liberty, and abhorred flattery.

I find in the Writers of those times, some of them Senators, that in the
Senate were read Letters from Adgandestrius, Prince of the
Cattians, undertaking to dispatch Arminius, if in order to
it poison were sent him; and an answer returned, “that not by frauds and blows
in the dark, but armed, and in the face of the sun, the Roman people took
vengeance on their foes.” In this Tiberius gained equal
glory with our ancient Captains, who rejected and disclosed a plot to poison
King Pyrrhus. Arminius, however, who, upon the departure of
the Romans, and expulsion of Maroboduus, aimed at Royalty,
became thence engaged in a struggle against the Liberty of his country, and, in
defence of their Liberty, his country-men took arms against him: So that, while
with various fortune he contended with them, he fell by the treachery of his
own kindred. The deliverer of Germany without doubt he was, one who assailed
the Roman
Edition: current; Page: [175]power, not like other Kings and Leaders, in its first
elements, but in its highest pride and elevation; one sometimes beaten in
battle, but never conquered in war. Thirty-seven years he lived, twelve he
commanded; and, amongst these barbarous nations, his memory is still celebrated
in their songs, though his name be unknown in the Annals of the Greeks, who
only admire their own national exploits and renown; nor, even amongst the
Romans, does this great Captain bear much distinction, while, overlooking
instances of modern prowess and glory, we only delight to magnify men and feats
of old.

Edition: current; Page: [[176]]

BOOK III.

The SUMMARY.

Agrippina
returns to Italy with the ashes and children of Germanicus. The passionate Zeal of the people towards her,
and them, and his memory. His funeral; with the behaviour of Tiberius and Livia, on that occasion. Drusus returns to Illyricum, as does Piso to Rome, and is tried as the poisoner of
Germanicus, despairs of acquittal,
and kills himself. Tacfarinas renews
the war in Africa, and is repressed by Apronius the Proconsul there. The trial and condemnation
of Lepida Æmylia, for adultery and
poisoning. The law Papia Poppæa, long abused, now
restrained. Fresh commotions in Africa, by Tacfarinas. Junius Blæsus sent to oppose him. Certain
Roman Knights condemned upon the Law of Majesty violated. Revolts in both
Gauls, conducted by Julius Sacrovir,
and Julius Florus; the issue tragical
to the revolters, and their chiefs. C. Lutorius, a Roman Knight, condemned upon the Law of
Majesty, and executed in prison. The cure of luxury attempted, and dropped.
Drusus made partner with his father
in the power Tribunitial. The Priest of Jupiter, not allowed to ballot for a Province. The Greek
Sanctuaries, their claims, examined and reformed. C.
Silanus condemned for bribery and treason.
Junius Blæsus routs Tacfarinas, and takes his brother
prisoner. Junia, the illustrious
sister of the famous Marcus Brutus,
and widow of Cassius, her death and
funeral.

Edition: current; Page: [177]

Agrippina, not withstanding the roughness of
winter, pursuing without intermission her boisterous voyage, put in at the
Island Corcyra, situated over-against the coasts of Calabria. Here, to settle
her spirit, she spent a few days, violent in her grief, and a stranger to
patience. Her arrival being the while divulged, all the particular friends to
her family, mostly men of the sword, many who had served under Germanicus, and even many strangers from the neighbouring
towns, some in officiousness towards the Emperor, more for company, crowded to
the City of Brundusium, the readiest port in her way, and the safest landing.
As soon as the fleet appeared in the deep, instantly were filled, not the port
alone and adjacent shores, but the walls and roofs, and as far as the eye would
go; filled with the sorrowing multitude. They were consulting one from one, how
they should receive her, landing, “whether with universal silence, or with some
note of acclamation.” Nor was it manifest which they would do, when the fleet
sailed slowly in, not, as usual, with joyful sailors and chearful oars, but all
things impressed with the face of sadness. After she descended from the ship,
accompanied with her two Infants, carrying in her bosom the melancholy Urn,
with her eyes cast steddily down; equal and universal were the groans of the
beholders: nor could you distinguish relations from strangers, nor the wailings
of men from those of women,
Edition: current; Page: [178]unless that the new-comers, who were recent in their
sallics of grief, exceeded Agrippina’s attendants, wearied
out with long lamentations.

Tiberius had dispatched two Prætorian Cohorts, with directions,
that the Magistrates of Calabria, Apulia and Campania, should pay their last
offices to the memory of his son. Upon the shoulders therefore of the Tribunes
and Centurions his ashes were borne; before went the Ensigns, rough and
unadorned, with the Fasces reversed. As they passed through the Colonies, the
populace were in black, the Knights in purple; and each place, according to its
wealth, burnt precious rayment, perfumes, and whatever else is used in funeral
solemnities. Even they whose cities lay remote, attended. To the Gods of the
dead, they slew victims, they erected altars, and with tears and united
lamentations, testified their common sorrow. Drusus came as
far as Terracina, with Claudius the brother of
Germanicus, and those of his children who had been left at
Rome. The Consuls Marcus Valerius and Marcus
Aurelius (just then entered upon their office) the Senate, and great part
of the people, filled the road; a scattered procession, each walking and
weeping his own way. In this mourning, flattery had no share; for all knew how
real was the joy, how hollow the grief of Tiberius for the
death of Germanicus.

Edition: current; Page: [179]

Tiberius and Livia avoided appearing
abroad. Public lamentation they thought below their grandeur; or, perhaps, they
apprehended that their countenances, examined by all eyes, might shew deceitful
hearts. That Antonia, mother to the deceased, bore any part
in the Funeral, I do not find either in the Historians or in the City Journals,
though besides Agrippina, and Drusus,
and Claudius, his other relations are likewise there
recorded by name; whether by sickness she was prevented; or, whether her soul,
vanquished by sorrow, could not bear the representation of such a mighty
calamity. I would rather believe her to have been constrained by Tiberius and Livia, who left not the
palace; and, affecting equal affliction with her, would have it seem, that, by
the example of the mother, the grandmother too and uncle were detained.

The day when his remains were reposited in the Tomb of
Augustus, various were the symptoms of public grief; now an
awful silence, then an uproar of lamentation, the city in every quarter full of
processions, the field of Mars in a blaze of torches. Here the soldiers under
arms, the Magistrates without the Insignia, the people by their tribes, all
cried in concert, that “the Commonwealth was fallen, and henceforth there was
no remain of hope;” so openly and boldly, that you would have believed they had
forgot who bore sway. But nothing pierced Tiberius more
than the ardent affections of the people towards Agrippina,Edition: current; Page: [180]while they gave her such titles as “the ornament of
her country, the only blood of Augustus, the single
instance of ancient virtue;” and, while applying to Heaven, they implored “the
continuance of her Issue, that they might survive the persecuting and
malignant.”

There were those who missed the Pomp of a public
Funeral, and compared with this the superior honours and magnificence bestowed
by Augustus on that of Drusus the
father of Germanicus; “that he himself had travelled, in
the sharpness of winter, as far as Pavia, and thence, continuing by the corps,
had with it entered the city; round his head were placed the Images of the
Claudii and Julii; he was mourned in
the Forum; his Encomium pronounced in the Rostra’s; all sorts of honours, such
as were the inventions of our ancestors, or the improvements of their
posterity, were heaped upon him. But to Germanicus were
denied the ordinary Solemnities, and such as were due to every distinguished
Roman. In a foreign country indeed, his corps, because of the long journey, was
burnt without pomp; but afterwards, it was but just to have supplied the
scantiness of the first ceremony by the solemnity of the last. His brother met
him but one day’s journey, his uncle not even at the gate. Where were those
generous observances of the ancients, the Effigies of the dead borne on a bed,
Hymns composed in
Edition: current; Page: [181]memory of their virtue, with the Oblations of praises
and tears? Where, at least, were the ceremonies, and even outside of
sorrow?”

All this was known to Tiberius; and,
to suppress the discourses of the populace, he published an Edict, “that many
illustrious Romans had died for the Commonwealth, but none so vehemently
lamented; this, however, was to the glory of himself and of all men, if a
measure were observed. The same things which became private families and small
states, became not Princes and an Imperial people. Fresh grief, indeed,
required vent and ease by lamentation; but, it was now time to recover and
fortify their minds. Thus the deified Julius, upon the loss
of an only daughter; thus the deified Augustus, upon the
hasty death of his grandsons, had both vanquished their sorrow. More ancient
examples were unnecessary, how often the Roman people sustained with constancy
the slaughter of their Armies, the death of their Generals, and intire
destruction of their noblest families. Princes were mortal, the Commonwealth
was eternal. They should therefore resume their several vocations.” And,
because the Megalensian Games were at hand, he added, “that they should even
apply to the usual festivities.”

The vacation ended, public affairs were resumed;
Drusus departed for the Army in Illyricum, and the minds of
all men were bent upon
Edition: current; Page: [182]seeing vengeance done upon Piso.
They repeated their resentments, that while he wandered over the delightful
countries of Asia and Greece, he was stifling, by contumacious and deceitful
delays, the evidences of his crimes; for it was bruited abroad, that
Martina, she who was famous for poysonings, and sent, as I
have above related, by Cneius Sentius towards Rome, was
suddenly dead at Brundusium; that poyson lay concealed in a knot of her hair,
but upon her body were found no symptoms of self-murder.

Piso, sending forward his son to Rome, with instructions
how to soften the Emperor, proceeded himself to Drusus. Him
he hoped to find less rigid for the death of a brother, than favourable for the
removal of a rival. Tiberius, to make shew of a spirit
perfectly unbiassed, received the young man graciously, and honoured him with
the presents usually bestowed on young Noblemen. The answer of Drusus to Piso was, “that if the current
rumours were true, he stood in the first place of grief and revenge; but he
hoped they were false and chimerical, and that the death of Germanicus would be pernicious to none.” This he declared in
public, and avoided all privacy. Nor was it doubted but the answer was dictated
by Tiberius, when a youth, otherwise easy and unwary,
practised thus the wiles and cunning of age.

Piso having crossed the sea of Dalmatia, and left his
ships at Ancona, took first the road of
Edition: current; Page: [183]Picenum, and then the Flaminian way, following the
Legion which was going from Pannonia to Rome, and thence to garrison in Africa.
This too became the subject of popular censure, that he officiously mixed with
the soldiers, and courted them in their march and quarters. He therefore, to
avoid suspicion, or, because when men are in dread, their conduct wavers, did
at Narni embark upon the Nar, and thence sailed into the Tiber. By landing at
the burying place of the Cæsars, he heightened the wrath of the populace.
Besides, he and Plancina came ashore in open day, in the
face of the city, who were crowding the banks, and proceeded with gay
countenances, he attended by a long band of Clients, she by a train of Ladies.
There were yet other provocations to hatred, the situation of his house,
proudly overlooking the Forum, and adorned and illuminated as for a festival,
the banquet and rejoicings held in it, all as public as the place.

The next day Fulcinius Trio
arraigned Piso before the Consuls, but was opposed by
Vitellius, Veranius, and others, who had accompanied
Germanicus. They said, “that in this prosecution
Trio had no part; nor did they themselves act as accusers,
but only gathered materials, and, as witnesses, produced the last injunctions
of Germanicus.” Trio dropped that
accusation, but got leave to call in question his former life. And now the
Emperor was desired to undertake the
Edition: current; Page: [184]Trial; a request which the accused did not at all
oppose, dreading the inclinations of the People and Senate. “He knew
Tiberius, on the contrary, resolute in despising popular
rumours, and in guilt confederate with his mother; besides that truth and
misrepresentations were easiest distinguished by a single judge, but in
assemblies odium and envy often prevailed.” Tiberius was
aware of the weight of the Trial, and with what reproaches he was assaulted.
Admitting therefore a few confidents, he heard the charge of the accusers, as
also the apology of the accused, and left the cause intire to the Senate.

Drusus returned the while from Illyricum; and, though
the Senate had for the reduction of Maroboduus, and other
his exploits the summer before, decreed him the Triumph of Ovation, he postponed the honour, and privately entered the
city. Piso, for his advocates, desired Titus
Arruntius, Fulcinius, Asinius Gallus, Eserninus Marcellus, and
Sextus Pompeius. But they all framed different excuses; and
he had, in their room, Marcus Lepidus, Lucius Piso, and
Liveneius Regulus. Now earnest were the expectations of all
men, “how great would prove the fidelity of the friends of Germanicus; what the assurance of the criminal, what the
behaviour of Tiberius, whether he would sufficiently
smother, or betray his sentiments.” He never had a more anxious part; neither
did the people ever indulge themselves
Edition: current; Page: [185]in such secret murmurs against their Emperor, nor
harbour in silence severer suspicions.

When the Senate met, Tiberius made a
speech, full of laboured moderation, “that Piso had been
his father’s Lieutenant and friend, and lately appointed by himself, at the
direction of the Senate, Coadjutor to Germanicus, in
administering the affairs of the East. Whether he had there by contumacy and
opposition exasperated the young Prince, and exulted over his death, or
wickedly procured it, they were then to judge with minds unprejudiced. For, if
he who was the Licutenant of my son, violated the limits of his commission,
cast off obedience to his General, and even rejoiced at his decease, and at my
affliction; I will detest the man, I will banish him from my house, and, for
domestic injuries exert domestic revenge, not the revenge of an Emperor. But
for you; if his guilt of any man’s death whatsoever, be discovered, shew your
just vengeance, and by it satisfy yourselves, satisfy the children of
Germanicus, and us his father, and grand-mother. Consider
too especially whether he viciated the discipline, and promoted sedition in the
Army, whether he sought to debauch the affections of the soldiers, and to
recover the province by arms; or whether these allegations are not published
falsly and with aggravations by the accusers, with whose over-passionate zeal I
am justly offended. For, whither tended the
Edition: current; Page: [186]stripping the corps, and exposing it to the eyes and
examination of the populace; with what view was it proclaimed, even to foreign
nations, that his death was the effect of poison, if all this was still
doubtful, and remains yet to be tried? It is true, I bewail my son, and shall
ever bewail him. But neither do I hinder the accused to do what in him lies to
manifest his innocence, even at the expence of Germanicus,
if ought blameable was in him. From you I intreat the same impartiality; let
not the connexion of my sorrow with this cause, mislead you to take crimes for
proved, because they are imputed. For Piso; if the
tenderness of kinsmen, if the faith of friends, has furnished him with patrons,
let them aid him in his peril, shew their utmost cloquence, and exert their
best diligence. To the same pains, to the same firmness I exhort the accusers.
Thus much, out of the common course, we will grant to the memory of
Germanicus, that the inquest concerning his death, be held
rather here than in the Forum, in the Senate than in the common Tribunals. In
all the rest, we will descend to the ordinary methods. Let no man in this cause
consider Drusus’s tears; let none regard my sorrow, no more
than the probable fictions of calumny against us.”

Two days were then appointed for maintaining the charge,
six for preparing the defence, and three for making it. FulciniusEdition: current; Page: [187]began with things stale and impertinent, about the
ambition and rapine of Piso in his administration of Spain;
things which, though proved, brought him under no penalty, if acquitted of the
present charge; nor, though he had been cleared of former faults, could he
escape the load of greater enormities. After him Serveus,
Veranius and Vitellius, all with equal zeal, but
Vitellius, with great Eloquence, urged, “That
Piso, in hatred to Germanicus, and
passionate for innovations, had, by tolerating general licenciousness, and the
oppression of the Allies, corrupted the common soldiers to that degree, that by
the most profligate he was stiled Father of the Legions.
He had, on the contrary, been outrageous to the best men, above all to the
friends and companions of Germanicus, and, at last, by
witchcraft and poyson destroyed Germanicus himself; hence
the infernal charms and immolations practised by him and Plancina. He had then attacked the Commonwealth with open arms;
and, before he could be brought to be tried, they were forced to fight and
defeat him.”

In every article but one his defence was faltering. For,
neither his dangerous intrigues in debauching the soldiery, nor his abandoning
the province to the most profligate and rapacious, nor even his insults to
Germanicus, were to be denied. He seemed only to wipe off
the charge of poyson; a charge which
Edition: current; Page: [188]in truth was not sufficiently corroborated by the
accusers, since they had only to alledge, “that at an entertainment of
Germanicus, Piso, while he sat above him, with his hands
poysoned the meat.” It appeared absurd, that, amongst so many attending slaves
besides his own, in so great a presence, and under the eye of Germanicus, he would attempt it. He himself required that the
waiters might be racked, and offered to the rack his own domestics. But the
Judges were implacable, from different motives, Tiberius
for the war raised in the province; and the Senate could never be convinced
that the death of Germanicus was not the effect of fraud.
Some moved for the Letters written to Piso from Rome, a
motion opposed by Tiberius no less than by Piso. From without, at the same time, were heard the cries of
the people, “that if he escaped the judgment of the Senate, they would with
their own hands destroy him.” They had already dragged his Statues to the place
from whence Malefactors were precipitated, and there had broken them; but by
the orders of Tiberius they were rescued and replaced.
Piso was put into a litter and carried back by a Tribune of
a Prætorian Cohort; an attendance variously understood, whether that officer
was intended as a guard for his safety, or a minister of death.

Plancina was under equal public hatred, but had more
secret favour; hence it was doubted how far Tiberius durst
proceed against
Edition: current; Page: [189]her. For herself; while her husband’s hopes were yet
plausible, she professed that “she would accompany his fortune whatever it
were, and, if he fell, fall with him.” But when, by the secret sollicitations
of Livia, she had secured her own pardon, she began by
degrees to drop her husband, and to make a separate defence. After this fatal
warning, he doubted whether he should make any further efforts; but, by the
advice of his sons, fortifying his mind, he again entered the Senate. There he
found the prosecution renewed, suffered the declared indignation of the
fathers, and saw all things cross and terrible; but nothing so much daunted him
as to behold Tiberius, without mercy, without wrath, close,
dark, unmoveable, and bent against every access of tenderness. When he was
brought home, as if he were preparing for his further defence the next day, he
wrote somewhat, which he sealed and delivered to his Freedman. He then washed
and anointed, and took the usual care of his person. Late in the night, his
wife leaving the chamber, he ordered the door to be shut, and was found, at
break of day, with his throat cut, his sword lying by him.

I remember to have heard from ancient men, that in the hands of
Piso was frequently seen a bundle of writings, which he did
not expose, but which, as his friends constantly averred, “contained the
Letters of Tiberius, and his cruel orders towards
Germanicus; that he resolved to lay them before the
Fathers,
Edition: current; Page: [190]and to charge the Emperor, but was deluded by the
hollow promises of Sejanus; and that neither did
Piso die by his own hands, but by those of an express and
private executioner.” I dare affirm neither; nor yet ought I to conceal the
relations of such as still lived when I was a youth. Tiberius, with an assumed air of sadness, complained in the
Senate, that Piso, by that sort of death, had aimed to load
him with obloquy, and asked many questions, how he had passed his last day, how
his last night? The Freedman answered to most with prudence, to some in
confusion. The Emperor then recited the Letter sent him by Piso. It was conceived almost in these words; “Oppressed by a
combination of my enemies, and the imputation of false crimes, since no place
is left here to truth and my innocence; to the immortal Gods I appeal, that
towards you, Cæsar, I have lived with sincere faith, nor
towards your mother with less reverence. For my sons, I implore her protection
and yours; my son Cneius had no share in my late
management, whatever it were, since, all the while, he abode at Rome. My son
Marcus dissuaded me from returning to Syria. Oh that, old
as I am, I had yielded to him, rather than he, young as he is, to me! Hence,
more passionately, I pray, that, innocent as he is, he suffer not in the
punishment of my guilt. By a series of services for five and forty years, I
entreat you, by our former fellowship in the Consulship,
Edition: current; Page: [191]by the memory of the deified Augustus, your father, by his friendship to me, by mine to you,
I entreat you for the life and fortune of my unhappy son. It is the last
request which I shall ever make you.” Of Plancina he said
nothing.

Tiberius, upon this, cleared the young man of any crime
as to the Civil War; he alledged “the orders of his father, which a son could
not disobey.” He likewise bewailed “that noble house, and even the grievous lot
of Piso himself, however deserved.” For Plancina he pleaded with shame and guilt, alledgeing the
importunity of his mother, against whom more particularly the secret murmurs of
the best people waxed bitter and poignant. “Was it then the tender part of a
grand-mother to admit to her sight the murderess of her grandson, to be
intimate with her, and to snatch her from the vengeance of the Senate? To
Germanicus alone was denied what by the Laws was granted to
every Citizen. By Vitellius and Veranius, the cause of that Prince was mourned and pleaded; by
the Emperor and his mother, Plancina was defended and
protected. Henceforth she might pursue her infernal arts, so successfully
tried, repeat her poisonings, and by her arts and poisons assail Agrippina and her children, and, with the blood of that most
miserable house, satiate the worthy grand-mother and uncle.” In this Mock-Trial
two days were wasted; Tiberius, all
Edition: current; Page: [192]the while, animating the sons of Piso to defend their mother. When the pleaders and witnesses
had vigorously pushed the charge, and no reply was made, commiseration
prevailed over hatred. The Consul Aurelius Cotta was first
asked his opinion; for, when the Emperor collected the voices, the Magistrates
likewise voted. Cotta’s sentence was, “That the name of
Piso should be razed from the Annals, part of his estate
forfeited, part granted to his son Cneius, upon changing
that name; his son Marcus should be divested of his
dignity, and, content with fifty thousand great sesterces, be banished for ten
years; and to Plancina, at the request of Livia, indemnity should be granted.”

Much of this sentence was abated by the Emperor, particularly
that of striking Piso’s name out of the Annals, when “that
of Marc Anthony, who made war upon his country, that of
Julus Antonius, who had by adultery violated the house of
Augustus, continued still there.” He also exempted
Marcus Piso from the ignominy of degradation, and left him
his whole paternal inheritance; for, as I have already often observed, he was
incorruptible by any temptations of money, and from the shame of having
acquitted Plancina, rendered then more than usually mild.
He likewise withstood the motion of Valerius Messalinus,
“for erecting a golden Statue in the Temple of Mars the Avenger,” and that of
Cæcina Severus,Edition: current; Page: [193]“for founding an Altar to Revenge.” Such Monuments
“as these, he argued, were only fit to be raised upon foreign victories;
domestic evils were to be buried in sadness.” Messalinus
had added, “That to Tiberius, Livia, Antonia, Agrippina and
Drusus, public thanks were to be rendered for haveing
revenged the death of Germanicus;” but had omitted to
mention Claudius. Messalinus was asked by Lucius Asprenas, in the presence of the Senate, “whether by
design he had omitted him?” and then at last the name of Claudius was subjoined. To me, the more I revolve the events of
late or of old, the more of mockery and slipperiness appears in all human
wisdom, and the transactions of men; for, in popular fame, in the hopes, wishes
and veneration of the public, all men were rather destined to the Empire, than
he for whom fortune then reserved the sovereignty in the dark.

A few days after, Vitellius, Veranius and Serveus, were by the Senate preferred to the honours of the
Priesthood, at the motion of Tiberius. To Fulcinius he promised his interest and suffrage towards
preferment, but advised him “not to embarass his Eloquence by impetuosity.”
This was the end of revenging the Death of Germanicus, an
affair ambiguously related, not by those only who then lived and interested
themselves in it, but likewise in following times; so dark and intricate are
all the highest transactions, while
Edition: current; Page: [194]some hold for certain facts, the most precarious
hearsays, others turn facts into falshood, and both are swallowed and improved
by the credulity of posterity. Drusus went now without the
City, there to renew the ceremony of the Auspices, and presently re-entred in
the Triumph of Ovation. A few days after died
Vipsania his mother, of all the children of Agrippa, the only one who made a pacific end; the rest
manifestly perished, or are believed to have perished, by the sword, poison,
and famine.

The same year, Tacfarinas, whom I
have mentioned to have been the former summer defeated by Camillus, renewed the war in Africa, first by roving
devastations, so sudden that they escaped unchastised; next he sacked towns,
and bore away mighty plunder; at last he begirt a Roman Cohort, a small
distance from the river Pagida. It was a fort commanded by Decrius, a brave soldier, exercised in war, and now touched
with the ignominy of such a siege. Encouraging therefore his men to offer open
battle, he drew them up without the walls. At the first shock the Cohort was
repulsed; but the resolute Decrius braved the enemy’s
darts, opposed the runaways, and upbraided the standard-bearers, “that, upon
vagabonds, and undisciplined robbers, the Roman soldiers turned their backs.”
He had already received several wounds, and his eye was beat out, but still
faced the foe, nor ceased fighting, till, wholly deserted by his men, he at
last was slain.

Edition: current; Page: [195]

Lucius Apronius had succeeded Camillus. As soon as he learnt this defeat, piqued rather by
the infamy of his own men, than the glory of the enemy, he practised an
exemplary severity, at this time rare, but agreeable to ancient discipline, by
executing with a club every tenth man of that ignominious Cohort, drawn by lot.
Such too was the effect of this rigour, that those very forces of
Tacfarinas, as they besieged the fortress of Thala, were
routed by a squadron of five hundred Veterans. In this battle Rufus Helvius, a common soldier, acquired the glory of saving a
Citizen, and was by Apronius presented with the Spear and
Collar. Tiberius added the Civic Crown, complaining, rather
than resenting, that Apronius had not, in right of
Proconsul, granted that also. Tacfarinas, now his Numidians
were dismayed, and bent against sieges, made a desultory war, flying when
attacked, and, upon a retreat, assaulting the rear. As long as the African
observed this method, he, with impunity to himself, mocked and harassed the
Romans; but after he drew down to the maritime places, the allurements and
quantities of plunder confined him to his Camp. Hither Apronius
Cesianus was, by his father, dispatched with the cavalry and auxiliary
Cohorts, to which was added a detachment of the best Legionary foot; and,
having successfully fought the Numidians, drove them back to the desarts.

Edition: current; Page: [196]

At Rome the while, Emilia Lepida,
who, besides the nobleness of the Emilian family, was great grand-daughter to
Pompey and Sylla, was charged with
imposing a false birth upon Publius Quirinius her husband,
a man rich and childless. The charge was swelled with “adulterics, poisonings,
and treasonable dealings with the Chaldeans about the fate and continuance of
the Imperial house.” Her brother Manius Lepidus defended
her; and, guilty and infamous as she was, the persecution from her husband
(continued after their divorce) drew compassion upon her. In this Trial, it was
no easy matter to discover the heart of Tiberius, with such
subtlety he mixed and shifted the symptoms of indignation and clemency. At
first, he besought the Senate, “not to meddle with the articles of treason;”
and presently engaged Marcus Servilius, once Consul, and
the other witnesses, to produce the very evidences of treason which he would
have appeared desirous to suppress. Yet he took the slaves of Lepida from the guard of soldiers, and surrendered them to the
Consuls; nor would he suffer them to be examined by torture, as to her
practises against himself; he even excused Drusus from
voting first, as Consul elect. This some understood as an instance of
complaisance, “that the rest might not be obliged to follow the example of
Drusus.” Some ascribe it to cruelty, “for that only
Edition: current; Page: [197]with design to have her condemned, that concession
was made.”

The public Games interrupted the Trial, and in the
recess, Lepida, accompanied with other Ladies of great
quality, entered the Theatre. There, with doleful lamentations, invoking her
illustrious ancestors, especially the great Pompey, whose
statues stood round in view, the Theatre itself a monument of his raising, she
excited such universal commiseration, that the Spectators burst into tears; and
uttering cruel and direful imprecations against Quirinius,
declared their indignation, “That to his childless old age, and mean blood,
should be given a Lady once designed for the wife of Lucius
Cæsar, and for the daughter-in-law of the deified Augustus.” At last, by racking her slaves, her crimes were made
manifest, and the judgment of Rubellius Blandus prevailed,
for interdicting her from fire and water. To this judgment Drusus assented, though others had proposed a milder. That her
estate should not be forfeited, was granted to Scaurus, who
by her had had a daughter. And now, after condemnation, Tiberius advertised the Senate, that “from the slaves too of
Quirinius he had learnt her attempts to poison him.”

As a consolation to the illustrious Families of Rome,
for their late calamities (for the Calpurnian house had
suffered the loss of Piso, and, just after, the
Emilian house that of Lepida)
Decius Silanus was now restored to
Edition: current; Page: [198]the Junian family. I will
briefly recite his disgrace. As against the Republic, the fortune of
Augustus was prevalent, so, in his family, it was unhappy,
by the lewdness of his daughter and grand-daughter, whom he turned out of Rome,
and with death or exile punished their adulterers. For, to a fault common
between men and women, he gave the heinous name of sacrilege and treason; and
thence had a colour for departing from the tenderness of our ancestors, and for
violating his own laws. But I shall hereafter relate the fate of others from
this his severity, as also the other transactions of that time, if, having
finished my present undertaking, life remains for other studies. Silanus, who had viciated the granddaughter of Augustus, though he felt no higher indignation than to be
excluded from the friendship and presence of the Emperor, yet understood this
as a denunciation of banishment; nor durst he, till the reign of Tiberius, supplicate the Prince and Senate for leave to return;
and then only trusted to the prevailing credit of his brother Marcus Silanus, distinguished by his illustrious quality, and
eminent for his great Eloquence. Marcus having returned
thanks to Tiberius, had this answer before the Senate;
“That he himself also rejoiced that his brother was returned from travels so
long and remote; that his return home was perfectly unexceptionable, since
neither by decree of Senate, nor by any sentence of law had he been
Edition: current; Page: [199]driven thence; that to himself however still remained
intire the resentments of his father towards him; nor by the return of
Silanus were the purposes of Augustus
violated.” Thenceforward he remained in Rome, but distinguished by no
preferment in the State.

The qualifying of the Law Papia Poppea was afterwards
proposed; a Law, which, to enforce those of Julius Cæsar,
Augustus had made when he was old, for punishing Celibacy, and enriching
the Exchequer. Nor even by this means had marriages and children multiplied,
while a passion to live single and childless still prevailed: But, in the mean
time, the numbers threatened and in danger by it, increased daily, while by the
glosses and chicane of the impleaders every family was undone. So that, as
before the city laboured under the weight of crimes, so now under the pest of
laws. From this thought I am led backwards to the first rise of Laws, and to
open the steps and causes by which we are arrived to the present number and
excess, a number infinite and perplexed.

The first race of men, free as yet from every depraved
passion, lived without guile and crimes, and therefore without chastisements
and restraints; nor was there occasion for rewards, when of their own accord
they pursued righteousness; and as they courted nothing contrary to justice,
they were debarred from nothing by terrors. But, after they had abandoned their
original equality, and from
Edition: current; Page: [200]modesty and shame to do evil, proceeded to ambition
and violence, Lordly dominion was introduced, and arbitrary rule, and in many
nations grew perpetual. Some, either from the beginning, or after they were
surfeited with Kings, preferred the sovereignty of Laws, which, agreeably to
the artless minds of men, were at first short and simple. The laws in most
renown were those framed for the Cretans by Minos, for the
Spartans by Lycurgus; and afterwards such as Solon delivered to the Athenians, now greater in number, and
more exquisirely composed. To the Romans justice was administered by
Romulus according to his pleasure. After him,
Numa managed the people by religious devices, and laws
divine. Some institutions were made by Tullus Hostilius,
some by Ancus Martius; but above all our laws were those
founded by Servius Tullius, such laws as even our Kings
were bound to obey.

Upon the expulsion of Tarquin, the
people, for the security of their freedom against the encroachment and factions
of the Senate, and for binding the public concord, prepared many ordinances.
Hence were created the Decemviri, and by them were composed the twelve Tables,
out of a collection of the most excellent institutions found abroad. This was
the period of all upright and impartial Laws. What laws followed, though
sometimes made against crimes and offenders, were yet chiefly made by violence,
through the animosity of
Edition: current; Page: [201]the two Estates, and for seizing unjustly withholden
offices, or for banishing illustrious Patriots, and to other wicked ends. Hence
the Gracchi and Saturnini, inflamers of
the people; and hence Livius Drusus vying, on behalf of the
Senate, in popular concessions with these inflamers, whence our Italian Allies
were first corrupted and animated with fair promises, then by the opposition of
other Demagogues disappointed and deceived. Neither during the War of Italy,
nor during the Civil War, was the making of regulations discontinued; many and
contradictory were even then made. At last Sylla the
Dictator, changing or abolishing the past, added many of his own, and procured
some respite in this matter, but not long; for presently followed the turbulent
pursuits and proposals of Lepidus, and soon after were the
Tribunes restored to their licentious authority of throwing the people into
combustions at pleasure. And now Laws were not made for the public only, but,
for particular men, particular laws; and, corruption abounding in the
Commonwealth, the Commonwealth abounded in laws.

Pompey was now, in his third Consulship, chosen to
correct the public enormities, and his remedies proved to the State more
grievous than its distempers. He made Laws, such as suited his ambition, and
broke them when they thwarted his will, and lost by arms the regulations which
by arms he had procured. Henceforward for twenty years civil discord raged,
Edition: current; Page: [202]and there was neither law nor settlement; the most
wicked found impunity in the excess of their wickedness, and many virtuous men
in their uprightness met destruction. At length, Augustus
Cæsar, in his sixth Consulship, then confirmed in power without a rival,
abolished the orders which during the Triumvirate he had established, and gave
us laws proper for peace and a single ruler. These laws had sanctions severer
than any heretofore known; as their guardians, Informers were appointed, who by
the Law Papia Poppea were encouraged with rewards, to watch such as neglected
the privileges annexed to marriage and fatherhood, and consequently could claim
no legacy or inheritance, the same, as vacant, belonging to the Roman people,
who were the public parent. But these Informers struck much deeper; by them the
whole City, all Italy, and the Roman Citizens in every part of the Empire, were
infested and persecuted; numbers were stripped of their intire fortunes, and
terror had seized all, when Tiberius, for a check to this
evil, chose twenty Noblemen, five who were formerly Consuls, five, who were
formerly Prætors, with ten other Senators, to review that law. By them many of
its intricacies were explained, its strictness qualified; and hence some
present alleviation was yielded.

Tiberius, about this time, recommended to the Senate
Nero, one of the sons of Germanicus,
now seventeen years of age, and desired, “that he might be exempted from
Edition: current; Page: [203]executing the office of the Vigintivirate, and have
leave to sue for the Quæstorship five years sooner than the laws directed.” A
piece of mockery this request to all who heard it; but Tiberius pretended, “that the same concessions had been decreed
to himself, and his brother Drusus, at the request of
Augustus.” Nor do I doubt but there were then such who
secretly ridiculed that sort of petitions from Augustus.
Such policy was however natural to that Prince, then laying the foundations of
the Imperial power, and while the Republic and its late laws were still fresh
in the minds of men. Besides, the relation was lighter between Augustus and his wife’s sons, than between a grandfather and
his grandsons. To the grant of the Quæstorship was added a seat in the College
of Pontifs; and the first day he entered the Forum in his manly robe, a
donative of corn and money was distributed to the populace, who exulted to
behold a son of Germanicus now of age. Their joy was soon
heightened by his marriage with Julia, the daughter of
Drusus. But as these transactions were attended with public
applauses, so the intended marriage of the daughter of Sejanus with the son of Claudius, was
received with popular indignation. By this alliance the nobility of the
Claudian house seemed stained, and by it Sejanus, already
suspected of aspiring views, was exalted still higher.

At the end of this year died two great and eminent men,
Lucius Volusius, and Sallustius
Edition: current; Page: [204]Crispus. The family of Volusius was ancient, but, in the exercise of public office,
rose never higher than the Prætorship; it was he who honoured it with the
Consulship. He was likewise created Censor, for modelling the classes of the
Equestrian Order, and first accumulated the wealth which raised that family
beyond all measure. Crispus was born of an Equestrian
house, great nephew by a sister to Caius Sallustius, the
renowned Roman Historian, and by him adopted. The way to the great offices was
open to him; but, in imitation of Mæcenas, he lived without
the dignity of Senator, yet outwent in power many who were distinguished with
Consulships and triumphs. His manner of living, his dress and daintiness, were
different from the ways of antiquity, and, in expence and affluence, he
bordered rather upon luxury. He possessed, however, a vigour of spirit, equal
to great affairs, and exerted the greater promptness, for that he hid it in a
shew of indolence and sloth. He was therefore, in the life-time of
Mæcenas, the next in favour, afterwards chief confident in
all the secret Counsels of Augustus and Tiberius, and assenting to the order for slaying Agrippa Posthumus. In his old age he preserved with the Prince
rather the outside than the vitals of authority. The same had happened to
Mæcenas. Such is the lot of power, rarely perpetual,
perhaps from satiety on both sides,
Edition: current; Page: [205]when Princes have no more to grant, and Ministers no
more to crave.

Next followed the Consulship of Tiberius and Drusus, to Tiberius the fourth, to Drusus the second;
a Consulship remarkable, for that in it the father and son were Collegues.
There was indeed the same fellowship between Tiberius and
Germanicus, two years before; but, besides the distastes of
jealousy in the uncle, the ties of blood were not so near. In the beginning of
the year, Tiberius, on pretence of his health, retired to
Campania, either already meditating a long and perpetual retirement, or to
leave to Drusus, in his father’s absence, the honour of
executing the Consulship alone. And there happened a thing which, small in
itself, yet as it produced mighty contestation, furnished the young Consul with
matter of popular affection. Domitius Corbulo, formerly
Prætor, complained to the Senate of Lucius Sylla, a noble
youth, “that in the shew of Gladiators, Sylla would not
yield him place.” Age, domestic custom, and the ancient men were for
Corbulo. Mamercus Scaurus, Lucius Arruntius, and others,
laboured for their kinsman Sylla. Warm speeches were made,
and the examples of our ancestors were urged, “who by severe decrees had
censured and restrained the irreverence of the youth.” Drusus interposed with arguments proper for calming
animosities, and Corbulo had satisfaction made him by
Scaurus, who was both
Edition: current; Page: [206]father-in-law and uncle to Sylla,
and the most copious Orator of that age. The same Corbulo,
exclaiming against “the condition of most of the roads through Italy, that
through the fraud of the undertakers, and negligence of the civil officers,
they were broken and unpassable;” undertook of his own accord the cure of that
abuse; an undertaking which he executed, not so much to the advantage of the
public, as to the ruin of many private men in their fortunes and reputation, by
his violent mulcts, and unjust judgments and forfeitures.

Soon after Tiberius by Letter
acquainted the Senate, “That by the incursions of Tacfarinas there were fresh commotions in Africa, and that they
must chuse a Proconsul, one of military experience, vigorous, and equal to that
war.” Sextus Pompeius, taking this occasion to discharge
his hate against Marcus Lepidus, reproached him “as
dastardly, indigent, a scandal to his ancestors, and therefore to be divested
even of the Government of Asia, his province by lot.” The Senate opposed him;
they thought Lepidus a man rather mild than slothful, and
that, as in his narrow fortune bequeathed to him, but not impaired by him, he
supported his quality without blemish, he merited honour rather than contumely.
He was therefore sent to Asia. Concerning Africa, it was decreed, that the
appointment of a Governor should be left to the Emperor.

Edition: current; Page: [207]

During these transactions, Cæcina
Severus proposed, “That no Magistrate should go into any province
accompanied by his wife.” He introduced this motion with a long preface, “that
he lived with his own in perfect concord, by her he had six children, and what
he offered to the public he had practised himself, having during forty years
service, left her still behind him, confined to Italy. It was not indeed,
without cause, established of old, that women should neither be carried by
their husbands into confederate nations, nor into foreign. A train of women
introduced luxury in peace, by their fears retarded war, and made a Roman army
resemble, in their march, a mixed host of Barbarians. The sex was not tender
only and unfit for travel, but, if suffered, cruel, aspiring, and greedy of
authority; they even marched amongst the soldiers, and were obeyed by the
officers. A woman had lately presided at the exercises of the troops, and at
the decursions of the Legions. The Senate themselves might remember, that as
often as any of the Magistrates were charged with plundering the provinces,
their wives were always charged with much guilt. To the Ladies the most
profligate in the province ever applied, by them all affairs were undertaken,
by them transacted; at home two distinct courts were kept, and abroad the wife
had her distinct train and attendants. The Ladies too issued distinct
Edition: current; Page: [208]orders, but more imperious, and better obeyed. Such
feminine excesses were formerly restrained by the Oppian and other Laws, but
now these restraints were violated, women ruled all things, their families, the
Forum and Tribunals, and even the armies.”

This speech was heard by few with approbation, and many
proclaimed their dissent, “for that neither was that the point in debate, nor
was Cæcina considerable enough to censure so weighty an
affair.” He was presently answered by Valerius Messalinus,
who was the son of Messala, and inherited a sparkling of
his father’s Eloquence: “that many rigorous institutions of the ancients were
softened and changed for the better. For neither was Rome now, as of old, beset
with wars, nor Italy with hostile provinces; hence a few concessions were made
to the conveniences of women, who were so far from burdening the provinces,
that to their own husbands there they were no burden. As to honours,
attendants, and expence, they enjoyed them in common with their husbands, who
could receive no embarassment from their company in time of peace. To war,
indeed, we must go equipped and unincumbered; but after the fatigues of war,
what was more allowable than the consolations of a wife? But it seemed, the
wives of some Magistrates had given a loose to ambition and
Edition: current; Page: [209]avarice: And were the Magistrates themselves free
from these excesses? Were not most of them governed by many exorbitant
appetites? Did we therefore send none into the provinces? It was added, that
the husbands were corrupted by their corrupt wives; Were therefore all single
men uncorrupt? The Oppian Laws were once thought necessary, because the
exigencies of the State required their severity; they were afterwards relaxed
and mollified, because that too was expedient for the State. In vain we covered
our own sloth with borrowed names; if the wife broke bounds, the husband ought
to bear the blame. It was moreover unjustly judged, for the weak and uxorious
spirit of one or a few, to bereave all others of the fellowship of their wives,
the natural partners of their prosperity and distress. Besides, the sex, weak
by nature, would be left defenceless, exposed to the luxurious bent of their
native passions, and to the seduction of adulterers. Scarce under the eye and
restraint of the husband, was the marriage-bed preserved inviolate; what must be the consequence, when, by an
absence of many years, the ties of marriage would be forgot, as it were, in a
divorce? It became them therefore, so to cure the evils abroad, as not to
forget the enormities at Rome.” To this Drusus added
somewhat concerning his own wedlock. “Princes, he said, were frequently obliged
to visit the remote parts of the Empire;
Edition: current; Page: [210]how often did the deified Augustus travel to the East, how often to the West, still
accompanied with Livia? He himself too had taken a progress
to Illyricum, and, if it were expedient, was ready to visit other nations; but
not always with an easy spirit, if he were to be torn from his dear wife, her
by whom he had so many children.” Thus was Cæcina’s motion
eluded.

When the Senate met next, they had a Letter from
Tiberius. In it he affected indirectly to chide the
fathers, “that upon him they cast all public cares,” and named them M.
Lepidus and Junius Blesus, to choose
either for Proconsul of Africa. They were then both heard as to this
nomination, and Lepidus excused himself with earnestness,
pleaded “his bodily frailty, the tender age of his children, and a daughter fit
for marriage.” There was another reason too, of which he said nothing, but it
was easily understood, even that Blesus was uncle to
Sejanus, and therefore had the prevailing interest.
Blesus too made a shew of refusing, but not with the like
positiveness, and moreover, was heard with partiality by the flatterers of
power.

Now at last broke out a grievance which had lain
hitherto smothered in the uneasy minds of men. The Statues of the Emperor were
become sanctuaries to every profligate, who, by laying hold on these Statues,
had assumed the insolence of venting with impunity their invectives and hatred
against worthy
Edition: current; Page: [211]men. Even slaves and freedmen were thence grown
terrible to their masters, and wantonly insulted and threatned them. Against
this abuse it was argued by Caius Sestius the Senator,
“that Princes were indeed the representatives of the Gods, but by the Gods just
petitions only were heard, nor did any one betake himself to the Capitol, or
the other Temples of Rome, that under their sacred shelter he might exercise
villainies. The laws were abolished, and finally overturned, if a criminal
convict could, in the public Forum, nay, at the door of the Senate, assault her
prosecutor with invectives and menaces; Yet thus had Annia
Rufilla assaulted him, she whom he had got judicially condemned for
forgery; neither durst he seek relief from the law, for that she protected
herself with the Emperor’s Statue. Much the same reasoning was offered by
others: some aggravated the offence with greater bitterness, and besought
Drusus to shew an exemplary instance of vengeance; so that
she was summoned, convicted of the charge, and by his command committed to the
common prison.

Considius Equus too, and Celius
Cursor, Roman Knights, were at the motion of Drusus,
punished by a decree of Senate, for forging a charge of treason against the
Prætor Magius Cæcilianus. From this their punishment and
that of Rufilla, Drusus reaped popular praise, “that by
him, living thus sociably at Rome, and frequenting the
Edition: current; Page: [212]public assemblies, the dark spirit and designs of his
father were softened.” Neither did the luxury, in which the young Prince lived,
give much offence. “Let him, it was said, be rather thus imployed, his days in
shews and acts of popularity, his nights in banqueting, than in dismal
solitude, withdrawn from public gayety, worried with incessant distrusts, and
fostering black designs.”

For neither was Tiberius nor the
impleaders yet tired with accusations. Ancharius Priscus
had accused Cæsius Cordus, Proconsul of Crete, of robbing
the public, with an additional charge of high treason, a charge which at that
time was the main bulwark of all accusations. Antistius
Vetus, a Nobleman of the first rank in Macedonia, had been tried for
adultery, and absolved. This offended Tiberius, who
reproached the Judges, and recalled him to be tried for treason, as a disturber
of the public, and confederate with the late King Rhescuporis, when having slain his brother Cotys, he meditated war against us. So that Vetus was condemned, and interdicted from fire and water. To
this sentence it was added, “that he should be confined to an island, neither
in the neighbourhood of Macedon nor of Thrace.” For, upon the division of that
Kingdom between Rhemetalces and the sons of Cotys, who being children, had for their guardian
Trebellienus Rufus, the Thracians, not used to our
Government, waxed discontented and tumultuous;
Edition: current; Page: [213]nor did they less censure Rhemetalces than Trebellienus, for leaving
unpunished the violences done them. The Cœletæans, Odrysœans, and other very
powerful nations, took arms, under distinct Captains, but all equal in meanness
and incapacity. For this reason, their armies were not united, nor the war
terrible. Some committed ravages at home, others traversed Mount Haemus, to engage in the insurrection the
distant provinces. The greatest part, and best appointed, besieged
Philippopolis, (a City founded by Philip of Macedon) and in
it King Rhemetalces.

Publius Velleius, who commanded the army in the
neighbouring province, when he heard of these commotions, dispatched parties of
horse and light foot, some against those who roamed about for plunder, some
against such as rambled from place to place to sollicit succours; he himself
led the body of the Infantry to raise the siege. These several enterprizes were
at once successfully executed, the rovers were cut off; divisions arose amongst
the besiegers, and the King fortunately sallied, just as the Roman forces
arrived. This gang of Thracians deserve not the name of an army, nor this rout
to be called a battle, where vagabonds half-armed were slaughtered, without
blood on our side.

The same year the Cities of Gaul, stimulated by their
excessive debts, began a Rebellion. The most vehement incendiaries were
Julius Florus, and Julius Sacrovir, the
Edition: current; Page: [214]first amongst those of Treves, the second amongst the
Eduans. They were both of distinguished nobility, both descended from
ancestors, who had done signal services to the Roman State, and thence acquired
of old the right of Roman Citizens, a privilege rare in those days, and only
the prize of virtue. When by secret meetings they had gained those who were
most prompt to rebel, with such as were desperate through indigence, or, from
guilt of past crimes, forced to commit more, they agreed that Florus should begin the insurrection in Belgia, Sacrovir amongst the neighbouring Gauls. They therefore had
many consultations and cabals, where they spared no topic of sedition, “their
tribute without end, their devouring usury, the pride and cruelty of their
Governors, the discord that had seized the Roman soldiery since the report of
the murder of Germanicus; a glorious conjuncture for
redeeming their Liberty, if they would only consider their own happiness and
strength, while Italy was poor and exhausted, the Roman populace weak and
unwarlike, the Roman armies destitute of all vigour, but that derived from
foreigners.”

Scarce one City remained untainted with the seeds of
this Rebellion, but it first broke out at Angiers and Tours. The former were
reduced by Acilius Aviola, a Legate, with the assistance of
a Cohort drawn from the garrison at Lions. Those of Tours were suppressed by
the same Aviola, assisted with a
Edition: current; Page: [215]detachment sent from the Legions, by Visellius Varro, Lieutenant-Governor of lower Germany. Some of
the Chiefs of the Gauls had likewise joined him with succours, the better to
disguise their defection, and to push it with more effect hereafter. Even
Sacrovir was beheld engaged in fight for the Romans, with
his head bare, a demonstration, he pretended,
of his bravery; but, the prisoners averred, “that he did
it to be known to his country-men, and to escape their darts.”

An account of all this was laid before Tiberius, who slighted it, and by hesitation fostered the war.
Florus the while pushed his designs, and tried to persuade
a Regiment of horse, levied at Treves, and kept under our pay and discipline,
to begin the war, by putting to the sword the Roman Merchants; and some few
were corrupted by him, but the body remained in their allegiance. A rabble
however of his followers and desperate debtors, took arms, and were making to
the Forest of Arden, when the Legions, sent from both armies by Visellius and Caius Silius, through
different routs to intercept them, marred their march. Julius
Indus too, one of the same country with Florus, at
enmity with him, and therefore more eager to engage him, was dispatched forward
with a chosen band, and broke the ill-appointed multitude. Florus, by lurking from place to place, frustrated the search
of the conquerors; at last, when he saw all the passes beset with soldiers, he
fell by his
Edition: current; Page: [216]own hands. This was the issue of the insurrection at
Treves.

Amongst the Eduans the revolt was as much stronger, as
the state was more opulent, and the forces to suppress it were to be brought
from afar. Augustodunum, the capital of the nation, was seized by
Sacrovir, and in it all the noble youth of Gaul, who were
there instructed in the Liberal Arts. By securing these pledges, he aimed to
bind in his interest their parents and relations, and at the same time
distributed to the young men the arms which he had caused to be secretly made.
He had forty thousand men, the fifth part armed like our Legions, the rest with
poles, hangers, and other weapons used by hunters. To the number were added
such of the slaves as had been appointed to be Gladiators, covered, after the
fashion of the country, with a continued armour of iron, and stiled
Crupellarii, a sort of militia, unweildly at exercising
their own weapons, and impenetrable by those of others. These forces were still
increased by voluntiers from the neighbouring cities, where, though the public
body did not hitherto avow the revolt, yet the zeal of particulars was
manifest. They had likewise leisure to increase from the contention of the two
Roman Generals; a contention for some time undecided, while each demanded the
command in that war. At length Varro, old and infirm,
yielded to the superior vigour of Silius.

Edition: current; Page: [217]

Now, at Rome, “not only the insurrection of Treves and
of the Eduans, but likewise, that threescore and four cities of Gaul had
revolted, that the Germans had joined in the revolt, and that Spain
fluctuated,” were reports, all believed with the usual aggravations of fame.
The best men grieved in sympathy for their country; many, from hatred of the
present government, and thirst of change, rejoiced in their own perils. They
inveighed against Tiberius, “that, in such a mighty uproar
of rebellion, he was only employed in perusing the informations of the
State-Accusers.” They asked, “Did he mean to surrender Julius
Sacrovir to the Senate, to try him for treason?” They exulted, “that there
were at last found men, who would with arms restrain his bloody Letters (to the
Senate) continually demanding condemnations and executions;” and declared,
“that even war was a happy change for a most wretched and calamitous peace.” So
much the more for this, Tiberius affected to appear wrapt
up in security and unconcern; he neither changed place nor countenance, but
behaved himself at that time as at other times, whether from elevation of mind,
or whether he had learnt that the state of things was not alarming, and only
heightened by vulgar representation.

Silius the while sending forward a band of Auxiliaries,
marched with two Legions, and ravaged the villages of the Sequanians, next
Edition: current; Page: [218]neighbours to the Eduans, and their associates in
arms. He then advanced towards Augustodunum, a hasty march, the
Standard-bearers mutually vying in expedition, and the common men breathing
ardour and eagerness, “that no time might be wasted even in the usual
refreshments, none of their nights in sleep; let them only see and confront the
foe; they wanted no more to be victorious.” Twelve miles from Augustodunum
Sacrovir appeared with his forces upon the plains; in the
front he had placed the iron troop, his Cohorts in the wings, the half-armed in
the rear; he himself, upon a fine horse, attended by the other chiefs,
addressing himself to them from rank to rank; reminded them “of the glorious
atchievements of the ancient Gauls; of the victorious mischiefs they had
brought upon the Romans; of the liberty and renown attending victory; of their
redoubled and intolerable servitude, if once more vanquished.”

A short speech, and disheartened audience! For, the embattled Legions
approached, and the crowd of townsmen, ill-appointed and novices in war, stood
astonished, bereft of the present use of eyes and hearing. On the other side,
Silius, though he presumed the victory, and thence might
have spared exhortations, yet called to his men, “That they might be with
reason ashamed, that they, the Conquerors of Germany, should be thus led
against a rabble of Gauls as against an equal enemy;
Edition: current; Page: [219]one Cohort had newly defcated the rebels of Tours,
one Regiment of horse those of Treves; a handful of this very army had routed
the Sequanians. The present Eduans, the more they abound in wealth, the more
they wallow in voluptuousness, are so much the more soft and unwarlike: this is
what you are now to prove, and your task to prevent their escape.” His words
were returned with a mighty cry. Instantly the horse surrounded the foe, the
foot attacked their front, and the wings were presently routed. The iron-band
gave some short obstruction, as the bars of their coats withstood the stroaks
of sword and pike; but the soldiers had recourse to their hatchets and
pick-axes, and, as if they had battered a wall, hewed their bodies and armour;
others with clubs, and some with forks, beat down the helpless lumps, who, as
they lay stretched along, without one struggle to rise, were left for dead.
Sacrovir fled first to Augustodunum, thence, fearful of
being surrendered, to a neighbouring town, accompanied by his most faithful
adherents; there he slew himself, and the rest one another, having first set
the town on fire, by which they were all consumed.

Now at last Tiberius wrote to the
Senate about this war, and, at once, acquainted them with its rise and
conclusion, neither aggravateing facts nor lessening them; but added, “That it
was conducted by the fidelity and bravery of his Lieutenants, guided by his
counsels.”
Edition: current; Page: [220]He likewise assigned the reasons why neither he, nor
Drusus, went to that war; “That the Empire was an immense
body, and it became not the dignity of a Prince, upon the revolt of one or two
communities, to desert the capital, whence motion was derived to the whole. But
now, since he could not be thought conducted by any dread of those nations, he
would take a progress to visit and settle them.” The Senate decreed vows and
supplications for his return, with other customary honours. Only Cornelius Dolabella, while he strove to outdo others, fell into
ridiculous sycophancy, by proposing, “That returning from Campania he should
enter Rome in the Triumph of Ovation.” This occasioned a
Letter from Tiberius, in which he declared, “That he was
not so destitute of glory, that after having in his youth subdued the fiercest
nations, and enjoyed or slighted so many Triumphs, he should now in his old age
seek empty honours from a short progress about the suburbs of Rome.”

About the same time he desired of the Senate, that “the
corps of Sulpitius Quirinus might be distinguished with a
public Funeral.” Quirinus was born at Lanuvium, a Municipal
town, and no wise related to the ancient Patrician family of the Sulpitii, but being a brave soldier, was, for his vigorous
military services to Augustus, rewarded with the
Consulship, and soon after with a Triumph,
Edition: current; Page: [221]for driving the Homonades out of their strong holds
in Cilicia. Next, when the young Caius Cæsar was sent to
settle the affairs of Armenia, Quirinus was appointed his
Governor, and at the same time paid all court to Tiberius,
then in his retirement at Rhodes. This the Emperor represented now to the
Senate, extolled the kind offices of Quirinus, and branded
Marcus Lollius as the author of the perverse behaviour of
Caius Cæsar to himself, and of all the jarring between
them. In other instances the memory of Quirinus was not
acceptable to the Senate, for his deadly persecution against Lepida, above recited, and for his prevailing power and avarice
in his old age.

At the end of the year, Caius Lutorius
Priscus, a Roman Knight, who had composed a celebrated Poem, bewailing the
death of Germanicus, and received a reward from
Tiberius, was attacked by an informer. His charge was,
“That during an illness of Drusus, he had composed another,
which, if the distemper proved mortal, he hoped to publish with a reward still
greater.” This Poem Lutorius had, in the fulness of vanity
and ostentation, rehearsed at the house of Publius
Petronius, in the presence of Vitellia, mother-in-law
to Petronius, and of other Ladies of quality, who were all
summoned by the impleader, and all, except Vitellia, were
terrified into a confession; she alone persisted that she had heard nothing.
But
Edition: current; Page: [222]the evidence tending to destroy him had most credit,
and it was the sentence of Haterius Agrippa, Consul elect,
that death should be his punishment.

This was opposed by M. Lepidus, who
spoke on this wise. “Conscript fathers, if we only regard, with what abominable
effusions Lutorius Priscus has defiled his own soul, and
the ears of men, neither dungeon, nor rope, nor indeed the punishments peculiar
to slaves, are sufficient for him. But though wickedness and enormities abound
without measure, yet since in coercions and penalties, we must observe the
limits set by the moderation of the Prince, set by precedents made by our
ancestors and yourselves; and since we must distinguish the vanity of the head
from the malignity of the heart, and words from evil doings; there is room left
for a middle judgment, by which neither his offence need escape unpunished, nor
we repent of our tenderness or severity. I have often heard our Prince
complain, when any criminal had, by a desperate death, prevented his mercy. The
life of Lutorius is still untouched; to save it, will no
wise endanger the State, nor will the taking it away have any influence upon
others. His studies, as they are full of wildness, are likewise empty and
perishing; neither is aught important or terrible to be apprehended from one
who thus betrays his own follies, and makes his court not to the minds of men,
Edition: current; Page: [223]but the imaginations of women. Let him, however, be
expelled Rome, interdicted from fire and water, and his estate be forfeited;
which judgment of mine is the same as if he were charged with high
treason.”

Of all the Consulars, only Rubellius
Blandus assented to this opinion of Lepidus; the rest
voted with Agrippa. Priscus was led to the dungcon, and
instantly put to death. Tiberius, in a Letter to the
Senate, discanted upon this proceeding, with his usual doubles and ambiguities,
magnified “their tenderness and zeal in avenging thus with severity even such
slight injuries done to the Prince;” entreated them, “not to be sudden in
punishing for words;” he praised Lepidus, and censured not
Agrippa. Hence an order was made, “that the decrees of
Senate should not in less than ten days be carried to the Exchequer, and to the
condemned so much time should be granted.” But to the Senate remained no
liberty of revisal or annulling; nor was Tiberius ever
softened by time.

Caius Sulpitius and Decimus Haterius
were the following Consuls. Their year was exempt from disturbances abroad, but
at home some severe blow was apprehended against luxury, which prevailed
monstrously in all things that create a profusion of money. But as the more
pernicious articles of expence were covered by concealing their prices,
therefore from the excesses of the table, which were
Edition: current; Page: [224]become the common subject of daily animadversion,
apprehensions were raised of some rigid correction from a Prince who observed
himself the ancient parcimony. For, Caius Bibulus having
begun the complaint, the other Ædiles took it up, and argued, “That the
sumptuary Laws were despised, the pomp and expence of plate and entertainments,
in spite of restraints, increased daily, and by moderate penalties were not to
be stopped.” This grievance thus represented to the Senate, was by them
referred intire to the Emperor. Tiberius having long
weighed with himself whether such an abandoned propensity to prodigality could
be stemmed, whether the stemming it would not bring heavier evils upon the
public, how dishonourable it would be to attempt what could not be effected, or
at least effected by the disgrace of the nobility, and by the subjecting
illustrious men to infamous punishments, wrote at last to the Senate in this
manner:

“In other matters, Conscript Fathers, perhaps it might
be more expedient for you to consult me in the Senate, and for me to declare
there what I judge for the public weal; but in the debate of this affair, it
was best that my eyes were withdrawn, lest, while you marked the countenances
and terror of particulars charged with scandalous luxury, I too should have
observed them, and, as it were, caught them in it. Had the vigilant Ædiles
first asked counsel of me, I know
Edition: current; Page: [225]not whether I should not have advised them rather to
have passed by potent and inveterate corruptions, than only make it manifest,
what enormities are an over-match for us. But they, in truth, have done their
duty, as I would have all other Magistrates fulfil theirs. But, for myself, it
is neither commendable to be silent, nor does it belong to my station to speak
out; since I neither bear the character of an Ædile, nor of a Prætor, nor of a
Consul. Something still greater and higher is required of a Prince. Every one
is ready to assume to himself the credit of whatever is well done, while upon
the Prince alone are thrown the miscarriages of all. But what is it that I am
first to prohibit, what excess retrench to the ancient standard? Am I to begin
with that of our country seats, spacious without bounds; and with the number of
domestics, a number distributed into nations in private families? or with the
quantity of plate, silver, and gold? or with pictures, and the works, and
statues of brass, the wonders of art? or with the gorgeous vestments,
promiscuously worn by men and women? or with what is peculiar to the women,
those precious stones, for the purchase of which our coin is carried into
foreign and hostile nations? I am not ignorant that at entertainments and in
conversation, these excesses are censured, and a regulation is required. Yet if
an equal Law were made, if equal penalties were prescribed,
Edition: current; Page: [226]these very censurers would loudly complain,
That the State was utterly overturned, that snares and
destruction were prepared for every illustrious house, that no man could be
guiltless, and all men would be the prey of informers. And yet bodily
diseases grown inveterate and strengthened by time, cannot be checked but by
medicines rigid and violent; it is the same with the soul, the sick and raging
soul, itself corrupted and scattering its corruption, is not to be qualified
but by remedies equally strong with its own flaming lusts. So many Laws made by
our ancestors, so many added by the deified Augustus, the
former being lost in oblivion, and (which is more heinous) the latter in
contempt, have only served to render luxury more secure. When we covet a thing
yet unforbidden, we are apt to fear that it may be forbidden; but when once we
can with impunity and defiance over-leap prohibited bounds, there remain
afterwards nor fear nor shame. How therefore did Parcimony prevail of old? It
was because every one was a Law to himself, it was because we were then only
masters of one City; nor afterwards, while our dominion was confined only to
Italy, had we found the same instigations to voluptuousness. By foreign
Conquests we learned to waste the property of others, and in the Civil Wars to
consume our own. What a mighty matter is it that the Ædiles remonstrate!
Edition: current; Page: [227]how little to be weighed in the balance with others?
It is wonderful that no body represents, That Italy is in constant want of
foreign supplies, that the lives of the Roman people are daily at the mercy of
uncertain seas and of tempests: were it not for our supports from the
provinces, supports, by which the masters, and their slaves, and their estates,
are maintained, would our own Groves and Villas maintain us? This care
therefore, Conscript Fathers, is the business of the Prince, and by the neglect
of this care, the foundations of the state would be dissolved. The cure of
other defects depends upon our own private spirits; some of us shame will
reclaim, necessity will mend the poor, satiety the rich. Or if any of the
Magistrates, from a confidence of his own firmness and perseverance, will
undertake to stemm the progress of so great an evil, he has both my praises,
and my acknowledgement that he discharges me of part of my fatigues. But if
such will only impeach corruptions, and when they have gained the glory, would
leave upon me the indignation, (indignation of their own raising;) believe me,
Conscript Fathers, I am not fond of bearing resentments. I already suffer many
for the Commonwealth, many that are grievous, and almost all unjust; and
therefore, with reason, I intreat that I may not be loaded with such as are
wantonly and
Edition: current; Page: [228]vainly raised, and promise no advantage to you nor to
me.”

The Senate, upon reading the Emperor’s Letter, released
the Ædiles from this pursuit; and the luxury of the table which, from the
battle of Actium till the revolution made by Galba, flowed,
for the space of an hundred years, in all profusion, at last gradually
declined. The causes of this change are worth knowing. Formerly the great
families, signal for nobility or for riches, were carried away with a passion
for magnificence; for in those days it was allowed to court the good graces of
the Roman people, with the favour of Kings, and confederate Nations, and to be
courted by them; so that each was distinguished by the lustre of popularity and
dependences, in proportion to his affluence, the splendour of his house, and
the figure which he made. But after Imperial fury had for some time raged in
the slaughter of the Grandees, and great reputation brought sure destruction,
the rest grew wiser. Besides, new men frequently chosen Senators from the
Municipal towns, from the Colonies, and even from the Provinces, brought with
them their own domestic parcimony; and though, by fortune or industry, many of
them grew wealthy as they grew old, yet their former frugal spirit continued.
But above all, Vespasian proved the promoter of moderation
and frugality, being himself the pattern of ancient Oeconomy in
Edition: current; Page: [229]his person and table; hence the compliance of the
public with the manners of the Prince, and an emulation to practise them, an
incitement more prevalent than the terrors of Laws and all their penalties. Or,
perhaps, all human things go a certain round, and, as there are revolutions of
time, there are also vicissitudes in manners. Nor, indeed, have our ancestors
excelled us in all things; our own age has produced many excellencies worthy of
praise and the imitation of posterity. Let us still preserve this strife in
virtue with our forefathers.

Tiberius having gained the fame of moderation, because,
by rejecting the project for reforming luxury, he had disarmed the growing
hopes of the accusers, wrote to the Senate, to desire the Tribunitial Power for Drusus. Augustus had
devised this title as best suiting the supreme power, while avoiding the odious
name of King or Dictator, he yet
wanted some particular appellation, under it to controul all other powers in
the State. He afterwards assumed Marcus Agrippa into a
fellowship in it, and, upon his death, Tiberius, that none
might doubt who was to be his successor. By this means, he conceived, he should
defeat the aspiring views of others; besides, he confided in the moderation of
Tiberius, and in the mightiness of his own authority. By
his example, Tiberius now advanced Drusus to a participation of the supreme Magistracy, whereas,
while GermanicusEdition: current; Page: [230]yet lived, he acted without distinction towards both.
In the beginning of his Letter, he besought the Gods, “That by his counsels the
Republic might prosper,” then added a modest testimony concerning the qualities
and behaviour of the young Prince, without aggravation or false embellishments,
“That he had a wife and three children, and was of the same age with himself
when called by the deified Augustus to that office; that
Drusus was not now by him adopted a partner in the toils of
Government, precipitately, but after eight years experience made of his
qualifications, after seditions suppressed, wars concluded, the honour of
Triumph, and two Consulships.”

The Senators had foreseen this address; hence they
received it with the more elaborate adulation. However, they could devise
nothing to decree, but “Statues to the two Princes, altars to the Gods,
triumphal arches,” and other usual honours, only that Marcus
Silanus strove to honour the Princes by the disgrace of the Consulship; he
proposed “That all records, public and private, should, for their date, be
inscribed no more with the names of the Consuls, but of those who excrcised the
Tribunitial power.” But Haterius Agrippa, by moving to have
“the Decrees of that day engraved in Letters of gold, and hung up in the
Senate,” became an object of derision, for that, as he was an ancient man, he
could reap from his most
Edition: current; Page: [231]abominable flattery no other fruit but that of
infamy.

In the mean time, as the Province of Africa was
continued to Junius Blæsus, Servius Maluginensis Priest of
Jupiter, demanded that of Asia. He insisted, “That it was vainly alledged, that
such Priests were not allowed to leave Italy; that he was under no other
restriction than those of Mars and Romulus; and if they were admitted to the
lots of Provinces, why were those of Jupiter debarred? The same was neither
adjudged by the authority of the people, nor in the books which ascertained the
sacred rites. Frequently, when the Priests of Jupiter were detained by
sickness, or engaged in the public, their function was supplied by the Pontifs.
The function itself lay unfilled for two and seventy years together, after the
death of Cornelius Merula, and yet the exercise of Religion
never ceased. Now if in such a series of years, Religion could subsist unhurt
without the creation of any such Priest at all, how much easier might his
absence be borne in the exercise of the Proconsular power, for one year? It was
to satiate private piques, if formerly the Priests of Jupiter were by the chief
Pontifs debarred from the Government of Provinces. But now, by the goodness of
the Gods, the chief Pontif was also the chief of men, a Pontif to whom
emulation, hatred, and other personal prepossessions, had no access.”

Edition: current; Page: [232]

To these his reasonings several answers were made by
Lentulus the Augur, and others, but all disagreeing, so
that the result was “to wait for the decision of the supreme Pontif.”
Tiberius in his answer to the Senate, postponing his notice
of the pretensions of the Priest of Jupiter, qualified the honours decreed to
Drusus with the Tribunitial power, and especially censured
the “extravagance of the proposition for golden letters, as contrary to the
example and usage of Rome.” Letters from Drusus were
likewise read, and, though modest in expression, were construed to be full of
haughtiness; “Were all things in the Roman state so miserably reversed, that
even a youth, one just distinguished with such supreme honour, deigned not to
visit the Gods of Rome, nor appear in Senate, nor begin in his native City the
auspices of his dignity? No war detained him; he had no journey to make from
remote countries, while he was only diverting himself upon the lakes and shores
of Campania, and pleasure his chief avocation. With such tuition was he
prepared the future ruler of human kind! this the lesson he had learnt from the
maxims of his father! In truth, the Emperor himself, an ancient man, might find
uneasiness in living under the eye of the public, and plead a life already
fatigued with age and occupations; but what besides pride and stateliness could
obstruct Drusus?”

Edition: current; Page: [233]

Tiberius, while he fortified the vitals of his own
domination, afforded the Senate a shadow of their ancient Jurisdiction, by
referring to their examination petitions and claims from the Provinces. For
there had now prevailed amongst the Greek Cities a latitude of instituting
Sanctuaries at pleasure. Hence the Temples were filled with the most profligate
fugitive slaves; here debtors found protection against their creditors, and
hither were admitted such as were pursued for capital crimes. Nor was any
authority found sufficient to bridle the seditious zeal of the people, thus
defending the villainies of men, as if the same were the sacred institutions of
the Deities. It was therefore ordered, that these cities should send deputies
to represent their claims. Some voluntarily relinquished the privileges which
they had arbitrarily assumed; many confided in their right, from the antiquity
of their superstitions, or their services to the Roman people. Glorious to the
Senate was the appearance of that day, when the grants from our ancestors, the
engagements of our confederates, the ordinances of Kings, such Kings who had
reigned as yet independent of the Roman power, and when even the institutions,
sacred to the Gods, were now all subjected to their inspection, and their
judgment free, as of old, to ratify or abolish with absolute power.

First of all the Ephesians applied, and alledged, that
“Diana and Apollo were not
Edition: current; Page: [234]born at Delos, according to the opinion of the
vulgar. In their territory flowed the river Cenchris, where also stood the
Ortygian Grove; there the big-bellied Latona, leaning upon an Olive-tree, which
even then remained, was delivered of these Deities, and thence, by their
appointment, the Grove became sacred. Thither Apollo himself, after his
slaughter of the Cyclops, retired for a sanctuary from the wrath of Jupiter.
Soon after, the victorious Bacchus pardoned the suppliant Amazons, who sought
refuge at the Altar of Diana. By the concession of Hercules, when he reigned in
Lydia, her Temple was dignified with an augmentation of immunities, nor during
the Persian Monarchy were they abridged; they were next maintained by the
Macedonians, and then by us.”

The Magnesians next asserted their claim, founded on an
establishment of Lucius Scipio, confirmed by another of
Sylla; the former after the defeat of Antiochus, the latter after that of Mithridates, having, as a testimony of the faith and bravery of
the Magnesians, dignified their Temple of the Leucophrynean Diana with the
privileges of an inviolable Sanctuary. After them, the Aphrodisians and
Stratoniceans produced a grant from Cæsar the Dictator, for
their early services to his party, and another lately from Augustus, with a commendation inserted, “that with zeal
unshaken towards the Roman people, they had
Edition: current; Page: [235]borne the irruption of the Parthians.” But these two
people adored different Deities; Aphrodisium was a city devoted to Venus, that
of Stratonicea maintained the worship of Jupiter and of Diana Trivia. Those of
Hierocæsarea exhibited claims of higher antiquity, “that they possessed the
Persian Diana, and her Temple consecrated by King Cyrus.”
They likewise pleaded the authorities of Perpenna,
Isauricus, and of many more Roman Captains, who had allowed the same
sacred immunity, not to the temple only, but to a precinct two miles round it.
Those of Cyprus pleaded right of sanctuary to three of their Temples, the most
ancient founded by Aerias to the Paphian Venus, another by
his son Amathus to the Amathusian Venus, the third to the
Salaminian Jupiter by Teucer, the son of Telamon, when he fled from the fury of his father.

The deputies too of other cities were heard. But the
Senate, tired with so many, and because there was a contention begun amongst
particular parties for particular cities, gave power to the Consuls, “to search
into the validity of their several pretensions, and whether in them no fraud
was interwoven, with orders to lay the whole matter once more before the
Senate.” The Consuls reported, that, besides the cities already mentioned,
“they had found the Temple of Æsculapius at Pergamos to be
a genuine Sanctuary. The rest claimed upon originals, from the darkness
Edition: current; Page: [236]of antiquity, altogether obscure. Smyrna particularly
pleaded an oracle of Apollo, in obedience to which they had dedicated a Temple
to Venus Stratonices; as did the Isle of Tenos an oracular order from the same
God, to erect to Neptune a Statue and Temple. Sardis urged a later authority,
namely, a grant from the Great Alexander; and Miletus
insisted on one from King Darius: as to the Deities of
these two cities, one worshiped Diana, the other, Apollo, and Crete too
demanded the privilege of Sanctuary to a Statue of the deified Augustus.” Hence divers orders of Senate were made, by which,
though great reverence was expressed towards the Deities, yet the extent of the
Sanctuaries was limited, and the several people were injoined “to hang up in
each Temple the present Decree, engraven in brass, as a sacred Memorial, and a
restraint against their lapsing, under the colour of Religion, into claims of
superstition and preeminence.”

At the same time, a vehement distemper having seized
Livia, obliged the Emperor to hasten his return to Rome;
seeing the mother and son lived hitherto in apparent unanimity, or perhaps
mutually disguised their hate; for, not long before, Livia,
having dedicated a Statue to the deified Augustus, near the
Theatre of Marcellus, had the name of Tiberius inscribed after her own. This he was believed to have
resented heinously, as a degrading
Edition: current; Page: [237]the dignity of the Prince, but to have smothered his
resentment under dark dissimulation. Upon this occasion therefore, the Senate
decreed “supplications to the Gods, with the celebration of the greater Roman
Games, under the direction of the Pontiss, the Augurs, the College of fifteen,
assisted by the College of seven, and the fraternity of Augustal Priests.”
Lucius Apronius had moved, that “with the rest might
preside the company of Heralds.” Tiberius opposed it, and
distinguished between the jurisdiction of the Priests and theirs, “for that at
no time had the Heralds arrived to so much pre-eminence; but for the Augustal
fraternity, they were therefore added, because they exercised a Priesthood
peculiar to that family for which the present vows and solemnities were
made.”

It is no part of my purpose to trace all the votes of
particular men, unless they are memorable for integrity, or for notorious
infamy. This I conceive to be the principal duty of an Historian, that he
suppress no instance of virtue, and that by the dread of future infamy and the
censures of posterity, men may be deterred from detestable actions and
prostitute speeches. In short, such was the abomination of those times, so
prevailing the contagion of flattery, that not only the first Nobles, whose
obnoxious splendour found protection in obsequiousness, but all who had been
Consuls, a great part of such as had been Prætors, and even many of
Edition: current; Page: [238]the unregistered Senators, strove for priority in the
vileness and excess of their votes. There is a tradition, that Tiberius, as often as he went out of the Senate, was wont to
cry out in Greek, Oh men prepared for bondage! Even he who
could not bear public liberty, nauseated this prostitute tameness of
slaves.

Hence by degrees they proceeded from acts of abasement
to those of vengeance. Caius Silanus, Proconsul of Asia,
accused by these our Allies of robbing the public, was impleaded by
Mamercus Scaurus once Consul, Junius
Otho Prætor, and Brutidius Niger Ædile. They charged
him with “violating the Divinity of Augustus, and with
despising the Majesty of Tiberius.” Mamercus boasted, that he imitated the great examples of old,
“that Lucius Cotta was accused by Scipio,
Servius Galba by Cato the Censor, Publius Rutilius by Marcus Scaurus.” As if
such crimes as these had been ever avenged by Scipio and
Cato, or by that very Scaurus, whom
this Mamercus his great grandson, and the reproach of his
progenitors, was now disgracing by the vile occupation of an informer! The old
employment of Junius Otho, was that of a schoolmaster.
Thence being by the power of Sejanus created a Senator, he
laboured by notorious attempts to triumph over the baseness of his original.
Brutidius abounded in worthy accomplishments, and, had he
proceeded in the upright road, was in the ready
Edition: current; Page: [239]way to every the most distinguished honour; but
eagerness hurried him, while he pushed to surpass first his equals, afterwards
his superiors, and at last his own very hopes; a course which has overwhelmed
even many virtuous men, who, scorning acquirements that came slow, but attended
with security, grasped at such as were sudden, though linked to
destruction.

Gellius Poplicola, and Marcus
Paconius, increased the number of the accusers, the former Quæstor to
Silanus, the other his Lieutenant. Neither was it doubted
but the accused was guilty of cruelty and extortion. But he was beset with a
series of hardships, dangerous even to the innocent, when, besides so many
Senators, his foes, he was to reply single to the most eloquent pleaders of all
Asia, chosen purposely to accuse him, ignorant himself of pleading, and beset
with capital terrors, a circumstance which disables the most practised
Eloquence. Neither did Tiberius spare him, but, with an
angry voice and countenance, daunted and interrupted him with incessant
questions; nor was he allowed to refute or evade them, nay, was often forced to
confess, lest the Emperor should have asked in vain. The slaves too of
Silanus, in order to be examined by torture, were delivered
in sale to the City-steward; and that none of his relations might engage to
assist him, when his life was thus at stake, crimes of treason were subjoined,
a sure bar to all help, and a seal upon their lips. Having therefore requested
an interval
Edition: current; Page: [240]of a few days, he dropped all defence, and tried the
Emperor by a Memorial, in which he menaced him with the public odium, and
blended expostulations with prayers.

Tiberius, the better to palliate by precedent his
purposes against Silanus, caused to be recited a
Representation from Augustus, concerning Volesus Messala, Proconsul of the same province, and the Decree
of Senate made against him. He then asked Lucius Piso his
opinion. Piso, after a long preface of the Emperor’s
clemency, proposed “to interdict Silanus from fire and
water, and to banish him into the island Gyarus.” The rest voted the same
thing, only that Cneius Lentulus moved, “that the estate
descending from his mother Cornelia, should be
distinguished from his own, and restored to his son.” Tiberius assented. But, Cornelius
Dolabella, pursuing his old strain of adulation, and having first exposed
the morals of Silanus, added, “that no man of profligate
manners, and marked with infamy, should be admitted to the lot of Provinces;
and of this their character the Prince was to judge. Transgressions, he said,
were punished by the Laws; but how much more merciful would it be to prevent
transgressors! more merciful to the men themselves, more to the Provinces.”

Against this Tiberius reasoned, “that in
truth he was not ignorant of the prevailing rumours concerning the conduct of
Silanus;Edition: current; Page: [241]but establishments must not be built upon rumours. In
the administration of Provinces, many had disappointed our hopes, and many our
fears. Some were, by the great weight of affairs, roused into vigilance and
amendment, others degenerated and sunk under them. The Prince could not within
his own view comprize all things, nor was it at all expedient for him to make
himself answerable for the characters of other men engaged in pursuits of
ambition. Laws were therefore appointed against facts committed, because all
things future are hid in uncertainty. Such were the institutions of our
ancestors, that if crimes preceded, punishments were to follow. Nor should they
change establishments wisely contrived and always approved. The Prince had
already sufficiency of burdens, and even sufficiency of power; the authority of
the Laws decreased when that of the Prince advanced, nor was Sovereignty to be
exercised where the Laws would serve.” A popular speech, and the more joyfully
heard, as acts of popularity were rare with Tiberius. To it
he added, prudent as he was in mitigating excesses, where his own proper
resentments did not controul him, “that Gyarus was an unhospitable island, and
devoid of human culture; that, in favour to the Junian family, and to a
Patrician lately of their own order, they should allow him for his place of
exile the isle of Cythera; that this too was the request of
Edition: current; Page: [242]Torquata, the sister of
Silanus, a Vestal virgin of primitive sanctity.” This
motion prevailed.

The Cyrenians were afterwards heard, and Cesius Cordus, charged by them, and impleaded by Ancharius Priscus, for plundering the Province, was condemned.
Lucius Ennius, a Roman Knight, was impeached of Treason,
“for that he had converted an effigies of the Prince into common uses of
silver;” but Tiberius withstood admitting him as a
criminal. Against this acquittal Ateius Capito openly
declared his protest from an affected spirit of liberty; “for that the Emperor
ought not to snatch from the fathers the power of penalties, nor ought such a
mighty iniquity to pass unpunished; he, indeed, might be passive under his own
grievances; but let him not give up the indignation of the Senate, and the
injuries done the Commonwealth.” Tiberius considered rather
the drift of these words than the expression, and persisted in his
interposition. The infamy of Capito was the more signal,
because, learned as he was in Laws human and divine, he thus debased the
dignity of the State, and his own personal accomplishments.

The next was a religious debate, in what Temple to place
the gift vowed by the Roman Knights to Fortune stiled the
Equestrian, for the recovery of Livia;
for, though in the city were many Temples to this Goddess, yet none had that
title. At last it was discovered
Edition: current; Page: [243]that at Antium was one thus named; and as all the
religious Institutions in the cities of Italy, all the Temples and Statues of
the Deities, were included in the jurisdiction and sovereignty of Rome, the
gift was ordered to be presented there. While matters of Religion were on foot,
the answer lately deferred, concerning Servius
Maluginensis, Priest of Jupiter, was now produced by Tiberius, who recited a Statute of the Pontifs, “that when the
Priest of Jupiter was taken ill, he might, with the consent of the chief
Pontif, be absent two nights, except on days of public sacrifice, and never
more than twice in the same year.” This regulation, made under Augustus, sufficiently shewed, that a year’s absence, and the
administration of Provinces, were not allowed to the Priests of Jupiter. He
likewise quoted the example of Lucius Metellus, Chief
Pontif, who restrained to Rome Aulus Postumius, who was
under that character. So the lot of Asia was conferred on that Consular who was
next in seniority to Maluginensis.

During this time, Lepidus asked
leave of the Senate, to strengthen and beautify at his expence the Basilic of
Paulus, a peculiar Monument of the Æmilian family. For even then it was usual
with private men to be magnificent in public structures. Nor had Augustus blamed Taurus, Philippus, or
Balbus, for applying their overflowing wealth, or the
spoils of the enemy, towards the decoration of the
Edition: current; Page: [244]City, and the perpetuation of their own fame. By
their example Lepidus, though but moderately rich, revived
the venerable glory of his Ancestors. But, as the Theatre of Pompey was consumed by accidental fire, Tiberius undertook to rebuild it, because none of the family
were equal to the charge, and promised that it should, however, be still called
by the name of Pompey. At the same time, he celebrated the
praises of Sejanus, and to his vigilance and efforts
ascribed it, that a flame so violent was stopped at one building only. Hence
the Fathers decreed a Statue to Sejanus, to be placed upon
the Theatre of Pompey. Nor was it long after that the
Emperor, when he dignified Junius Blesus with the ensigns
of Triumph, declared, “that in honour to Sejanus he did
it,” for, to Sejanus, Blesus was uncle.

And yet the actions of Blesus were
entitled to so much distinction. For, Tacfarinas, though
often repulsed, yet still repairing his forces in the heart of Africa, had
arrived to such a pitch of arrogance, that he sent Embassadors to
Tiberius, with demands “for a settlement to himself, and
his army,” otherwise he threatened “everlasting war.” They say that upon no
occasion did ever Tiberius, for any insult offered himself,
and the Roman name, manifest a more sensible indignation; “that a deserter and
a robber should presume to offer terms, like an equal foe; when even to
Spartacus no concession was made of
Edition: current; Page: [245]being received and treated under the sanction of the
public faith, while, after the slaughter of so many Consular armies, he still
carried, with impunity, fire and desolation through Italy; though the
Commonwealth was then gasping under two mighty wars, with Sertorius and Mithridates. Much less was
Tacfarinas, a free-booter, to be bought off by terms of
peace, and concession of lands, whilst the Roman people enjoyed the highest
pitch of glory and power.” Hence he commissioned Blesus,
“to engage by the hopes of indemnity all his followers, to lay down their arms;
but to get into his hands the leader himself, by whatever means.”

So that by this pardon many were brought over, and the
war was forthwith prosecuted against him by stratagems, not unlike his own. For
as he, who in strength of men was unequal, but in arts of stealth and pillaging
superior, made his incursions in separate bands, and thence could at once elude
any attack of ours, and harass us by ambushes of his; so on our side, three
distinct routes were resolved, and three several bodies formed. Scipio, the Proconsul’s Lieutenant, commanded on that quarter
whence Tacfarinas made his depredations upon the
Leptitanians, and then his retreat amongst the Garamantes. In another quarter
Blesus the son led a band of his own, to protect the
territory of the Cirtensians from ravages; between both marched the Proconsul
himself, with the flower of the army, erecting
Edition: current; Page: [246]forts, and casting up entrenchments in convenient
places. By these dispositions he sorely cramped the foe, and rendered all their
movements dangerous; for, which ever way they turned, still some party of the
Roman forces was upon them, in front, in flank, and often at their heels; and
by this means many were slain, or made prisoners. This triple army was again
split by Blesus into bands still smaller, and over each a
Centurion of tried bravery placed. Neither did he, as usual at the end of the
season, draw off his forces from the field, or dispose them into
winter-quarters in the old Province; but, as in the first heat of war, having
raised more forts, he dispatched light parties, acquainted with the wilderness,
who drove Tacfarinas before them, continually shifting his
huts; till, having taken his brother, he retreated, too suddenly however for
the good of the province, as there were still left behind instruments to
rekindle the war. But Tiberius took it for concluded, and
likewise granted to Blesus that he should be by the Legions
saluted Imperator, an ancient honour, usually done to the
old Roman Captains, who, upon their successful exploits for their country, were
in the shouts and vehemence of victory, thus complimented by their armies; and
there have been at once several Imperators, without any
pre-eminence of one over the rest. It was a title vouchsafed to some, even by
Augustus, and now, for the last time, by Tiberius to Blesus.

Edition: current; Page: [247]

This year died two illustrious Romans, Asinius Saloninus, splendid in his relations and descent; as
Marcus Agrippa and Asinius Pollio were
his grandfathers, Drusus his half brother, and himself
betrothed to the Emperor’s grand-daughter; and Ateius
Capito, already mentioned, in civil acquirements the principal man in
Rome; as to descent, his grand-father was only a Centurion under Sylla, but his father arrived to the Prætorship. Augustus had pushed him early into the Consulship, that, by the
grandeur of that office, he might be set above Antistius
Labeo, who excelled in equal accomplishments; for that age produced
together these two ornaments of peace. But Labeo preserved
unstained a spirit of liberty, and thence was more the object of popular
renown; while Capito gained by obsequiousness greater
credit with those who bore rule. The former, as he was never suffered to rise
beyond the Prætorship, met with matter of praise from a source of injury; to
the other, with the glory of the Consulate, accrued likewise the envy, and with
envy hatred.

Junia too, now sixty-four years after the battle of
Philippi, finished her course; the niece of Cato, sister of
Brutus, and wife of Cassius. Her Will
made much noise amongst the populace; for that being immensely rich, and having
honourably distinguished with legacies almost all the great men of Rome, she
omitted Tiberius; an omission which he
Edition: current; Page: [248]took civilly, nor hindered her Panegyric from being
pronounced in public, nor her Funeral from being celebrated with other
customary solemnities. Before it were borne the Images of twenty the most noble
families, the Manlii, the Quinctii, and
other names of equal lustre; but superior to all shone Cassius and Brutus, on this very account,
that their Images were not with the rest seen now.